After having gone three weeks without any new COVID-19 cases in the community, Da Nang City is looking to ease a social distancing mandate introduced in early May, allowing outdoor businesses and sit-in dining services to resume operations. 

In a recently announced plan, authorities of the central city outlined six categories of businesses and outdoor operations to be reopened, including barbershops, public beaches, and outdoor sports.

It also looks to raise the current limit for public gatherings from a maximum of five people to no more than 20. 

Companies and agencies can now bring back their whole workforce to the office instead of sending parts of them to work from home to ensure social distancing. 

However, the plan still demands that spas and beauty salons stay closed.

Phan Van Son, deputy head of the Da Nang People's Committee Office, said the plan was devised pursuant to the city’s current track record of 21 days without any new transmission. 

The plan has been sent to lower-level authorities, whose inputs will inform the next steps of the implementation.

As the coronavirus epidemic is still at large in Vietnam, the official decision for reopening of business and services would be settled on Tuesday, Son added.

Local authorities should stay vigilant, uphold strict monitoring to prevent transmission risks from outside the city, and map out areas at risks, namely manufacturing facilities and industrial zones, said Nguyen Van Quang, secretary of the Da Nang Party Committee during a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Monday.

He also required the local medical authorities to roll out mass testing before easing the social distancing mandate.

“In principle, we should not encourage big social gatherings.”

“This, instead, means partly easing the restriction on essential activities, with strict conditions still in place.”

A leading tourist destination and a coronavirus epicenter last year, Da Nang has reported 158 infections and one death in the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam, which has raged since April 27. 

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