Nearly one million people and 120,000 vehicles travel on many streets in Ho Chi Minh City every day despite the prevailing mobility restrictions, according to the municipal Department of Public Security.

The department anticipates that the number will rise in the days to come as the municipal administration has allowed the operation of some facilities and inter-district delivery service starting Monday.

Functional forces in the city have thus beefed up their supervision over people’s observance of COVID-19 prevention regulations and travel restrictions.

Traffic police officers in Ho Chi Minh City handled 14,280 violations of social distancing rules under the prime minister’s Directive No. 16 from June 1 to August 13, collecting a total fine of about VND30 billion (US$1.3 million), according to the city’s Road and Railway Traffic Police Unit.

Some 570 cases were fined more than VND1 billion ($43,800) for failing to wear a face mask in public.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest coronavirus hotspot at the moment, has recorded 152,627 local COVID-19 cases since the fourth wave hit the country in late April. 

The southern metropolis has undergone weeks of strict social distancing under the prime minister’s Directive No. 16 and will continue following those extensive pandemic prevention measures until September 15.

The directive requires all residents to stay indoors and only go outside with appropriate reasons.

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

As of Tuesday morning, Vietnam had documented 283,696 COVID-19 cases, with 106,977 recoveries and 6,141 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has detected 279,681 domestic transmissions in 62 out of 63 provinces and cities in this fourth bout.

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