HCM City extends social distancing till September 30

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Van Mai speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)

HCM City – Ho Chi Minh City has decided to extend social distancing in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Directive No.16/CT-TTg till September 30, said Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Van Mai at a press conference on September 13.

Mai said since the tightening of social distancing measures on August 23, the city has increased the rate of residential groups free from pandemic to 53 percent while the number of infections and fatalities also decreased. Patients under quarantine at home have been given timely access to medicine and medical assistance.

Over 6.5 million residents in the city were given the first vaccine shots, or over 90 percent of population aged above 18, while more than 1.3 others received the second shots, equivalent to 19 percent.

Several supermarkets, shippers, e-commerce and takeaway services reopened, partly meeting public demand.

In the foreseeable future, the city will strive to reach vaccine coverage as much as possible as well as improve treatment capacity of medical facilities, especially those at grassroots level.

It is also piloting the resumption of several services like food production, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, goods delivery, transportation, banking, telecommunications and securities, and others.

According to the municipal leader, the city handed over 14,000 tonnes of rice and 1.8 million welfare bags to residents. The first and second relief packages cost nearly 6.5 trillion VND (282.6 million USD) while the third one is estimated at about 10 trillion VND.

He added that the city is collecting feedback from firms to offer tax and credit suggestions to the central Government, as well as rolling out stimulus packages to stimulate production, labour training and sci-tech application.

Director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications Lam Dinh Thang said the “green card” model for fully vaccinated residents will be piloted in District 7 and the outlying districts of Can Gio and Cu Chi in the near future.