Saigon closes bars, dance clubs again as Covid-19 infections rise

Several restaurants, bars and massage parlors on Saigon's Bui Vien Street are closed in March to prevent possible Covid-19 infections. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Saigon has banned large gatherings and ordered all bars and dance clubs to close starting Friday as Covid-19 numbers rise in the country.
Specifically, the southern metropolis has banned all gatherings of more than 30 people, as also events like festivals, fairs and non-urgent conferences and meetings, the municipal People’s Committee announced Thursday.

Events like weddings and funerals should not have large gatherings. Residents have been requested to wear masks in public, it said.

At meetings deemed necessary, all attendees must wear masks and wash their hands before and after the meeting, refrain from shaking hands and other close exchanges. All surfaces and objects must be disinfected.

Thursday’s decision came just a day after the city recorded two Covid-19 cases, ending its 117-day streak of no community transmission.

The two cases are a 57-year-old American martial artist and his 46-year-old Vietnamese wife who came to Saigon from the central city of Da Nang, now Vietnam’s largest Covid-19 hotspot that has recorded 34 cases since last Saturday.

Saigon’s 180 bars and dance clubs had reopened on May 9, after being shut down since March due to the pandemic.

Hanoi, where two men have contracted Covid-19, has closed bars and banned crowded events like festivals and fairs since Wednesday night.

The two patients, one a 23-year-old from Nam Tu Liem District and the other a 76-year-old from Tay Ho District, reportedly have contracted the disease in Da Nang.

Vietnam has recorded 464 Covid-19 cases so far, of which 95 are active. The country recorded 14 new cases Thursday: eight in Da Nang, one in Hanoi and five in Quang Nam Province.

All of Saigon’s 61 previous cases had recovered and been discharged.

Source: vnexpress.net
Collected by My Nguyen