Vietnam Premier tells provinces to ease strict virus measures

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday called on local governments to ease overly strict pandemic-prevention measures that affect production and business activity, and prevent the nation from achieving its dual goals of fighting the virus and developing the economy.

Vietnam is currently battling its worst Covid-19 outbreak, with about 5,500 cases reported in 39 out of 63 provinces and cities since late April. Several centers, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, have put social-distancing measures in place to curtail the virus while others have imposed controls on returnees from affected areas, Chinh said in a statement.

“Some locations, however, have slapped rigid and extreme measures that have hit production and business activities, putting supply chains and large-scale production at risk of disruption,” the premier said. He told authorities nationwide to ensure they are putting the correct people in quarantine and are not blocking transportation and banning trade.

The directive came on the same day that Ho Chi Minh City asked officials in bordering Dong Nai province to adopt a virus-control plan that creates favorable conditions for goods transportation and the movement of workers between the city and the province.

Authorities in Dong Nai, home to 32 industrial parks, have been widely criticized over the province’s 21-day mandatory self-quarantine, or paid quarantine at hotels, for people who return from Ho Chi Minh City from June 5. State media reported national roads linking the city and Dong Nai yesterday were congested with goods trucks, passenger buses and motorbikes, with many canceling Dong Nai trips to avoid quarantine.

By Mai Ngoc Chau – Bloomberg – 6 juin 2021