Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are expected to remove all COVID-19 checkpoints and barricades along local streets and alleys by September 30, and will only keep the checkpoints at the city’s gateways.

The Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations organized an online seminar on Saturday to discuss economic recovery plans in 'new normal' conditions.

At the event, Tran Hoang Ngan – head of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies – recounted several points of a meeting on Friday, which was attended by secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen and chairman of the People’s Committee Phan Van Mai.

The city is expected to remove all COVID-19 checkpoints and barricades along local streets and alleys by the end of the month, Ngan elaborated.

However, the checkpoints at the city’s entrances will remain in operation to ensure safety for the key southern economic region in general, he added.

During the discussion, many businesses urged the removal of fences that were erected between districts, as well as those set in alleys by local residents, which posed a lot of difficulties to the transport of goods and materials.

Nguyen Duc Hung – chairman of NAPOLI Coffee’s board of directors – proposed that fully vaccinated people be allowed to travel for work when the city reopens.

Authorities should also create favorable conditions for the transport and circulation of goods and materials within the city as well as between the city and other provinces, Hung said.

Dinh Hong Ky, chairman of Secoin Company, believed that lockdowns and concentrated quarantine will no longer be necessary if the city decided to live with COVID-19.

According to Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, competent authorities will stop pandemic-related inspection along local streets to prevent congestion and lower risk of transmission.

Random inspections will instead be carried out at establishments to make sure they comply with pandemic prevention and control regulations.

The final plan has yet to be concluded, Vu added.

Ho Chi Minh City has recorded more than 366,000 local COVID-19 casesm with over 14,000 deaths, since the fourth wave started in the country on April 27, according to the Ministry of Health's data.

The city has implemented social distancing measures at various levels since May 31.

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