HEADLINE: Hà Nội: Non-essential businesses to close, people told to stay home starting tomorrow
The 2,155 new COVID-19 cases reported this morning include one imported case and 2,154 locally transmitted cases detected in Hồ Chí Minh City (1,519), Bình Dương (156), Tiền Giang (133), Đồng Nai (80), Vĩnh Long (43), Khánh Hòa (38), Bến Tre (34), Đà Nẵng (32), Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu (26), Cần Thơ (22), Phú Yên (12), Hậu Giang (10), Kiên Giang (8 ), Vĩnh Phúc (7), Hà Nội (6), Bình Phước (6), An Giang (6), Đồng Tháp (6), Đắk Lắk (2), Quảng Ngãi (2), Bạc Liêu (2), Lâm Đồng (2), Quảng Nam (1), Lâm Đồng (1); 251 of these were found in communities.
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HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội’s authorities on Sunday announced more stringent social distancing measures that will take effect Monday to curb a spike in community cases.
In the latest dispatch signed by Hà Nội People’s Chairman Chu Ngọc Anh, citing huge risks of community transmission and following the lockdown order imposed on the entire southern region to deal with severe coronavirus outbreaks, people in the city are asked to stay at home and only go outside in necessary cases like business trips, working at essential businesses (State agencies, factories, essential shops and service providers), buy food and medicines, or emergencies such as medical issues, fire incidents or natural disasters, etc.
Masks are mandatory in public. People must maintain a distance of two metres in public, and must not congregate in groups larger than five outside of hospital, workplaces, or schools.
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Online shopping is also encouraged.
Non-essential services and businesses are to be closed starting tomorrow.
The businesses and services that are still allowed to operate include: factories, production facilities, transport projects, construction sites, essential businesses or suppliers (food, medicines, utility, gas and oil, etc.), restaurants or food & drink establishments can only provide takeaway services, educational institutions, banks and treasuries along with bank-related and business supporting activities (such as notaries and attorney offices, registration offices, etc.), securities, postal offices, delivery services, import and export activities, medical examination and treatment, and funeral services.
People are asked to hold off from holding weddings and funeral services must not have more than 30 attendants and will face monitoring by the local health authorities.
People who visit these establishments must submit their health declaration forms using QR code via apps like Bluezone or nCOVI.
Production businesses, service establishments, and industrial zones must strictly observe COVID-19 prevention and control measures, have plans in place to respond when cases are detected at their facility, conduct COVID-19 risk assessment on a daily basis, and would be held accountable to local and municipal authorities.
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For the agencies and offices of Hà Nội and the central Government based in Hà Nội, companies, enterprises and corporations (including foreign-invested companies) must develop arrangements, including working in shifts, to ensure 50 per cent of their staff working online.
Businesses and agencies should restrict direct contacts to the maximum and move to virtual format, the dispatch noted.
Malls, supermarkets, traditional markets, wholesale markets in the city are to ensure adequate supply of daily necessities for the local population, arrange stalls and reception procedures (from parking to entry) to reduce the number of customers in the same place at the same time, minimise close contacts and encourage online shopping and delivery.
Travel from Hà Nội to other cities and provinces and vice versa would be limited.
Chairman Chu Ngọc Anh requested the State agencies and businesses to work out plans that can ensure smooth, undisrupted transportation of goods and production materials. Vehicles carrying people from other provinces are allowed to pass through but are not allowed to stop to pick up and drop off passengers in the city.
Industrial parks or production plants with workers residing in Hà Nội or going to Hà Nội from other provinces and cities must register with local authorities (details on the number of workers and experts, their places of residence or accommodation, vehicles transporting them, etc.) and perform regular COVID-19 screening as per health authorities’ guidelines.
Drivers of trucks carrying goods from other localities must only stop at registered sites or gas stations, have negative COVID-19 tests (RT-PCR method) within the past three days, and report to local authorities on their entry and movements.
Public transport will be operated at 50 per cent capacity, while personal transport would be restricted.
The organisation of meetings and important political events of the central Government or Party in the city shall be decided by the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly, the Government and central agencies.
Hà Nội has recorded nearly 400 infections during the fourth wave of infections (since late April this year). Today alone, the capital city logged 37 new cases, including five in a family in Hoàng Mai District with currently unknown source of infections. — VNS
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