Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong has decided to extend the extensive social distancing period in the city by another month.

The city will continue following social distancing measures under the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 16 from August 16 to September 15.

The directive bans gatherings of more than two people in public and requires all residents to stay indoors and only go outside with appropriate reasons.

Businesses and services with high priority can continue to operate during this period.

The municipal administration also allows the operation of some additional facilities, including food establishments that produce bread, rice vermicelli, and tofu, notary services, air ticket offices, private clinics, and companies that offer security service, as well as maintenance and repair works for buildings and apartment complexes.

Insurance firms are permitted to assess and make claim documents, as well as settle insurance benefits for their clients.

Delivery workers are allowed to transport essential products between districts, while food processing establishments and food retail stores can task their employees with delivering and picking up products as part of their operations.

The People’s Committee will continue requiring all residents to stay indoors, except in emergency health situations, between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am from August 16 to September 15.

According to chairman Phong, Ho Chi Minh City is striving to make sure that 70 percent of residents age 18 and older will have received their first COVID-19 vaccine shots by September 15.

The southern metropolis is currently the largest epicenter in the country with 149,286 local infections recorded since the fourth wave began on April 27.

The city has imposed social distancing regulations at various levels since May 31.

As of Monday morning, Vietnam had documented 275,044 COVID-19 cases, with 102,504 recoveries and 5,774 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has detected 271,037 domestic transmissions in 62 out of 63 provinces and cities since April 27.

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