Authorities in northern Bac Giang Province, which used to be Vietnam’s largest COVID-19 hotbed, have decided to lift certain pandemic response measures as no infections have been recorded in the community for over 17 days.

The province stopped adopting pandemic prevention and control measures under the prime minister’s Directive No. 19 from 6:00 am on Thursday, but several rules are still enforced to prevent new outbreaks, said Le Anh Duong, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.

The directive prohibits gatherings of over 20 people in public, suspends non-essential businesses, and requires residents to keep at least one meter from each other.

“The COVID-19 pandemic in Bac Giang has been tightly controlled, enabling activities aimed at boosting socio-economic recovery,” Duong stated.

In order to prevent the virus from penetrating the province, chairman Duong ordered competent authorities to closely monitor all arrivals.

Those coming from pathogen-hit areas will be tested and quarantined.

All production and business establishments must be supervised by local health officials, while periodic COVID-19 testing for employees must be maintained.

Non-essential services including karaoke, bars, clubs, cinemas, spas, online game centers, swimming pools, gyms, and sidewalk eateries will remain closed.

Crowded events such as weddings and funerals are permitted to be organized on a small scale, with all attendees required to follow basic pandemic prevention and control rules, namely wearing face masks, sanitizing hands, and keeping safe distance.

As of Wednesday, more than 130,000 laborers at local industrial parks had returned to work.

This is considered a success as the province previously set a target to have only 30,000 workers go back to work by the end of July.

Bac Giang had been the hardest-hit Vietnamese locale since the fourth wave began on April 27.

The province’s caseload was surpassed by Ho Chi Minh City on July 4.

Bac Giang has recorded 5,735 domestic infections in the current bout, while no new cases have recorded in the community for over 17 days.

By Thursday afternoon, Vietnam had documented 123,640 COVID-19 cases, with 27,457 recoveries and 630 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The county has registered 119,863 local infections in 62 out of 63 provinces and cities in this fourth round.

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