Hanoi streets sees bustle again as social distancing eased

After Hanoi lifted its social distancing measures on October 21, the city has entered a new period of pandemic prevention and control. Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung said at a meeting on October 20 that the top priority now is ensuring people’s health and the capital’s safety.  Hanoi will step up IT application in monitoring people’s travelling. Dung informed that there will be no additional administrative procedures for individuals, organisations and businesses in the city, while guidance will be given to them regarding production and business resumption. Hanoi will establish inter-sector inspection delegations for COVID-19 prevention and control, and sustain lockdown on a scale as small as possible and tighten management. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Streets in Hanoi are bustling on the first day of the capital city easing social distancing measures. The city’s authorities have allowed the reopening of some non-essential services across the city from 6am on September 21. It has also removed the requirement of travel permits for inner city commuters and no longer divides the city into three-coloured zones. Since July 24, Hanoi has been applying social distancing measures according to the Prime Minister’s Directive 16, which comprises the country’s most stringent social distancing regulations, requiring residents to stay at home and only go out for basic necessities such as buying food or medicines or to work at factories or businesses that are allowed to open. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Previously, the Hanoi Department of Public Security said 39 COVID-19 checkpoints across the city had been removed as the city started to ease restrictions. According to a document signed by Chu Ngoc Anh, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, top priority will be given to ensruing people’s health. The city will continue implementing COVID-19 prevention and control measures till all of its residents are fully vaccinated scheduled for November. All State agencies and businesses will arrange 50 percent of its workforce in their workplaces; a large gathering of more than 20 people in the agencies will be banned; and a minimum distance of 2m must be ensured in a meeting room. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi will ban gatherings of 10 or more people outside offices, schools and hospitals, and continue to suspend all religious activities in worship places, as well as all sports and recreational activities in public places. It will continue to suspend teaching at educational and training institutions as well as some other business and service activities. The city will allow the resumption of services at shopping malls, garment and cosmetics outlets, hairdressers’, vehicle, electronics, refrigeration and home appliances repairs, and stationary shops. E-commerce service providers using online delivery services will also be allowed to resume operation. All food and beverage service establishments are required to offer takeaway services and close before 9pm daily. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi will continue to suspend all public transport services, including inter-provincial transport. The municipal administration has requested local residents to only go out of their homes for food, medicines, medical examination and other emergencies. Hanoi will maintain disease control checkpoints at its gateways and patrol units in the city. To enter the city for business, individuals are required to make a health declaration and comply with medical supervision and isolation measures. Nguyen Van Phong, Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, told the media on September 20 that the easing of social distancing aims to both maintain the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, and facilitate the restoration of production services and people’s daily life. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Nguyen Trai Street on October 21 morning. To date, nearly 100 percent of local people aged 18 and above have received their first shot of COVID-19 vaccines. However, the city has yet to enter a new normal as only 12 percent of the people have received their second shot. To enforce the new normal status, a locality is required by the Ministry of Health to have at least 70 percent of its population get the first jab and 20 percent of the people fully inoculated. The city expects to fully vaccinate its population in November this year, making it easier for students to return to school. Only red zones with high risks and positive cases will have to apply the Prime Minister’s Directive 16. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The social distancing is loosened but the city continues to keep 23 checkpoints at the city’s gateways and 33 other checkpoints at the entrances to other localities to control people leaving and entering the city, especially from high-risk areas. The city also proposed the Ministry of Transport continue suspending all domestic commercial flights arriving at Noi Bai International Airport as well as railway services transporting passengers to Hanoi. Sport, cultural and entertainment activities in public areas and business establishments and religious gatherings and celebrations are still banned. Local people are asked to adhere to the Ministry of Health’s 5K message – khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering) and khai bao y te (health declaration). (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Tay Son Street on October 21 morning. The capital city’s businesses and production facilities have developed plans to reopen as Hanoi has reported fewer positive cases of COVID-19. Four months before the end of 2021, a number of business establishments, services and enterprises have started to reopen, while workers were gradually returning. Acting Director of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade Tran Thi Phuong Lan said the department will coordinate with the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Management Board of Industrial and Export Processing Zones, and relevant agencies to develop a plan to recover and promote the economy closely following the progress of disease control in each area of the city. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 

Hanoi’s authorities have allowed the reopening of some services in the city from 6am on September 21. Stores providing essential goods and services are allowed to open, along with traditional markets, shopping centres, stores for stationery, textbooks, and other learning equipment, mechanics, electronics, and home appliances and in-door hairdressing salons. Restaurants and food and drink establishments are permitted to reopen for delivery only and must close before 9pm every day. Motorbike delivery services, including those using ride-hailing apps will continue to operate from 9am to 10pm but shippers must be vaccinated with at least one dose, make daily health declarations and strictly observe COVID-19 prevention and control regulations. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Under the new measures, agencies and offices of Hanoi and the central Government based in the capital city, companies, enterprises and corporations must develop plans to ensure half of their staff work online and half work at office. Meetings and events are allowed with the number of participants not exceeding 20 within one room. Funeral services must not have more than 20 attendants. Factories and manufacturing establishments outside industrial zones and clusters must strictly follow preventive guidelines and take the initiative in building safe production plans. Activities in quarantine sites, sealed-off and high-risk areas will be regulated in a flexible manner in tandem with the situation. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The capital city of Hanoi has further eased its coronavirus restrictions from this week, with new cases on the decline and the majority of its adult population partially vaccinated. So far 94 percent of Hanoi’s 5.75 million adults has received one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, with the aim of completing the injection of the second jab by the end of November, said Deputy Chairman of Hanoi’s People’s Committee, Duong Duc Tuan. Hanoi has escaped the brunt of a fierce wave of coronavirus infections in Vietnam since late April, recording less than 50 of the more than 17,000 COVID-19 deaths nationwide, and just 4,414 of the country’s total 687,000 cases. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 

The country’s business hub of Ho Chi Minh City, more than 1,500 km away by road, has been the hardest hit. HCM City will also gradually reopen economic activities in areas with less risk of COVID-19 infection after September 30. The outlying district of Cu Chi, which has basically kept the COVID-19 outbreak under control, has been chosen to pilot a new scheme of operation for the city after September 15. After September 30, the district’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control will evaluate the pandemic control situation in level-1 and 2 areas to consider upgrading them to levels 3 and 4. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi’s Transport Department proposed having buses operate at half of the frequency from September 22 as the city eases COVID-19 social distancing. In a plan sent to the city’s administration recently, the department called for the resumption of bus services in two phases. Phase one will last 15 days from September 22 to have buses operate at half of the frequency compared to the period. Drivers and conductors must have received at least one COVID-19 jab and tested frequently. All passengers must follow the Health Ministry’s protocol on COVID-19 prevention, including wearing masks and keeping a safe distance. When Hanoi has reopened all socio-economic activities, buses would operate at a frequency of 80 percent in the second phase, according to the director of the department, Duong Duc Tuan. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

As Vietnam has not yet opened its doors to international tourists, Hanoi is devising plans to welcome back domestic virsitors. Unique and attractive products are being developed and many stimulus programmes will be launched to ensure safety for tourists and those working in the industry. Hanoi’s tourism sector has concentrated on prioritising improving the quality of cultural and heritage destinations, craft and ancient villages to enhance their competitiveness. The industry plans to expand the development of agricultural, community-based and health care tourism as well as promote MICE (Meeting Incentive Conference Event) tourism associated with hosting major events. Currently, the city is finalising scenarios of economic activity in line with each pandemic situation. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Vehicles on Truong Chinh Street on September 21 morning. Nguyen Van Phong, Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, told the media on September 20 that the easing of social distancing aims to both maintain the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, and facilitate the restoration of production services and people’s daily life. However, he warned that the city remains at risk as there are F0 cases detected in the community every two or three days. “We must live proactively and safely with COVID-19,” said Phong. To date, nearly 100 percent of local people aged 18 and above have received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo: VientamPlus)

In the fourth period of social distancing over the past two weeks, the number of daily caseload has decreased to around 15 cases per day. although the pandemic prevention and control has recorded progress, there remains risks for community transmission as the city still has some clusters in narrow alleys and densely-populated areas, and there are still people returning to Hanoi from pandemic-hit localities while a number of people fail to abide by COVID-19 prevention and control regulations, posing risk. People are required to submit health declaration forms via website www.tokhaiyte.vn or Ncovi and Bluezone apps. Those who have symptoms such as fever, coughing or difficulty breathing must contact local medical establishments for further instructions. (Photo: VietnamPlus)