Ho Chi Minh City has recently approved the use of taxicabs to convey children’s products to local households during the ongoing social distancing mandate.

In a recent statement, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has accepted the proposal of baby supply store Con Cung and taxi operator Mai Linh Group, in which the latter promises to deliver children’s products, namely hygiene, food, and care items, from the supplier to households in need.

For caretakers in the city, these items have become harder to reach since late July, when an elevated movement curb was introduced.

To support local households, Mai Linh will mobilize vehicles of up to nine seats to deliver baby products on a 24-hour basis, starting Saturday.

All deliveries must have a Con Cung store as their departure or destination.

The municipal transport authority will provide each eligible taxicab with a travel certificate and QR code, which will help the vehicle pass COVID-19 checkpoints.

Taxi drivers must complete COVID-19 screening and safety procedures before they can do the delivery work.

The Department of Transport requests the municipal Military Command, as well as lower-level authorities, to facilitate the QR code issuance for vehicles, while monitoring and penalizing drivers that fail to adhere to delivery rules.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities have enforced social distancing drives at various levels since May 31 and asked people to stay where they are from August 23, as part of their drastic measures to push back the serious pandemic, with the participation of police and soldiers.

They suspended app-based delivery service in high-risk areas on August 23, but prematurely ended the ban one week later due to the disruptions it created to daily life, as suggested by vice-chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Thi Thang in a discussion with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The city has allowed food and drink service providers to sell takeaways to customers from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm every day, starting Wednesday.

It has documented 291,871 COVID-19 cases since the fourth virus wave hit Vietnam in late April.

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