Beaches that had been crowded with summer vacationers in Da Nang earlier this month fell silent on Wednesday as the central Vietnamese city reinstated enhanced social distancing measures to curb the second wave of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks.

Da Nang recorded Vietnam’s first community-based COVID-19 case after 99 days on Saturday.

The coastal tourist city has since logged 34 cases of community infection in total, becoming a new epicenter of the respiratory disease in the Southeast Asian country.

The government decided to reinstate enhanced social distancing in Da Nang for at least 15 days from Tuesday, similar to measures enforced nationwide in early April, when Vietnam was at the peak of the pandemic.

Authorities in the coastal city have banned crowded events, shuttered non-essential services, and stopped receiving domestic tourists to prevent the virus from spreading.

On the second day of social distancing on Wednesday, no one was spotted on the spectacular beaches stretching the two districts of Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son in Da Nang.

In order to enforce the social distancing measures, the management board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang’s tourism beaches has fenced off all entrances to local beaches with barrier tapes, prohibiting both locals and visitors from entering.

The management board also deployed officers to regularly patrol the beaches and remind violators to obey social distancing rules.

Da Nang authorities were previously forced to cancel the Da Nang Fantasticity Festival 2020, planned to take place at the end of July, due to the return of COVID-19 community cases.

Since Saturday, 43 new community-based infections have been confirmed in Vietnam, including 34 in Da Nang.

The Southeast Asian country’s COVID-19 tally was at 459 on Thursday, including 276 imported cases quarantined immediately after arrival.

Ninety patients remain under treatment for the disease in Vietnam, with no casualties reported to date.

In this aerial photo, no one can be spotted on a beach in Da Nang City, Vietnam during a period of enhanced social distancing to curb the latest wave of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), July 29, 2020. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

An aerial photo shows a line of empty beach sofas along a beach in Da Nang City, Vietnam, July 29, 2020. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

Three coracles sit on an empty beach in Da Nang City, Vietnam, July 29, 2020. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

Three coconut trees stand on an empty beach in Da Nang City, Vietnam, July 29, 2020. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

Tourists crowd a beach in Da Nang City, Vietnam before enhanced social distancing measures were put in place from July 28, 2020. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

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