Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City issued Directive 12 strengthening implementation of Directive 16 of the Prime Minister

Directive 12 stated that the objective of strengthening measures to implement Directive 16 is to: Block off and contain the spread of the pandemic; maintain, expand the safe zone and curb the spread of high-risk areas.

Specific strengthening measures to focus on implementation including:

- Focus on promoting extensive propagation, thoroughly execute the motto "walk to every alley, knock on every door, check every person", distribute leaflets guiding the social distancing and anti-pandemic measures.

- In lockdown areas, strictly follow the motto “person-to-person, family-to-family isolation”; absolutely no direct contact with people around.  People are only allowed to leave their homes when:  (1) there is a medical emergency, (2) buy essential food at supermarkets/markets in the lockdown area (02 times/week, use shopping vouchers issued by the local government).

In certain extremely risk areas, each household only stays at home, the authorities will bring necessities to each house.

- In the quarantine areas, quarantined people must absolutely abide by the regulations, not to leave the room and not be in direct contact with other people (except for medical emergencies).

- With regard to families with home-quarantined F0, F1 individuals, strictly follow the instructions of the health sector, absolutely do not leave the house (except for medical emergencies); essential food will be supported and provided by the authorities to the door.

- Regarding residential areas in small, crowded, packed, and high population density alleys, rigorously follow person-to-person distance rule.

Narrow the range of groups allowed to operate during the implementation of Directive 16 as following:

- Suspend production and business activities of construction sites, construction and traffic works that are not really urgent.

- Banks and securities companies must operate at the level of maintaining capacity to provide necessary services in a timely manner, especially for branches or transaction offices, which can operate alternately and arrange personnel to work on the premises in shifts, strictly abiding by the distance rules.

- Only the following business may operate according to service requirements while ensuring the pandemic safety protocols: businesses in health care, pharmaceuticals, food, catering for hospitals, quarantine areas, admission and treatment areas; electricity, water, gas, postal, telecommunications, public sanitation, transportation of essential goods; state treasury, funeral services and a number of other essential services are permitted to operate.

As for traditional market activities, it is only allowed to operate under the new model, with strict regulations and rigorous control, ensuring an open, airy space with a barrier between buyers and sellers, with prices quoted and encourage sales in prepacked grocery bags, strictly enforce social distancing rules; only allow trading in food and essential goods and reduce the scale to about 30%.

- Regulatory agencies work on alternate days or alternate sessions of day on the premises, and only go out in case of emergency.

- Covid-19 checkpoints at the gateways to the city (12 city-level checkpoints and checkpoints of districts and Thu Duc city) shall only allow vehicles for public duties, means of transport of goods with QR codes that are allowed to transport into the city or pass through the city; personal vehicles of regulatory agencies and armed forces, vehicles for anti-pandemic duties and public duties; buses to transport municipal people back to their hometowns as planned.

Directive 12 issued on July 22 2021.

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