Health

Hanoi shuts down amid Covid spike

Bangkok Desk, May 25 (EFE).- Restaurants, bars and hair salons in Hanoi were shut down on Tuesday as the Vietnamese capital city struggles to contain the worst outbreak of coronavirus infections since the end of April.

Authorities in Hanoi said that only home deliveries would be permitted, while outdoor recreational activities, as well as large gatherings in parks, are banned, the government news portal reported.

Vietnam reported 84 new cases on Monday, after caseloads had gone over 100 last week. Only 44 people in the country have died of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

At the start of May, the central government stepped up its anti-coronavirus measures such as closing schools and limiting opening hours for bars, karaoke and massage parlors.

It also extended the mandatory quarantine period from 14 to 21 days for arrivals from outside the country after several cases were reported in people who had tested negative for the virus after being confined for two weeks.

Health officials are particularly concerned by the more contagious and virulent variant of the coronavirus discovered in India and the rapid spread of the virus across the country after a four-day holiday weekend that saw millions of people travel.

Vietnam, one of the countries that has best curbed the pandemic so far, has received more than 2.6 million vaccines from AstraZeneca, mostly received through the World Health Organisation’s Covax program, and has inoculated more than one million healthcare and other essential sector workers since March 8, according to Ministry of Health data. EFE

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