Hanoi is mulling over opening non-essential shops like fashion and cosmetics later than usual, from 9:00 am, as part of efforts to keep social distancing amid the unpredictable coronavirus situation.

Shops in Hanoi closed during social distancing period. Photo: Thegioitiepthi

This kind of shops (without a fixed closing time) will help ease traffic congestions in rush hours if they open one hour later than other kinds of services, local media cited Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung as saying on Monday.

Initial survey shows that revenues of those shops before 9:00 am are modest while the plan will help reduce a number of 600,000 to 800,000 traffic participants in rush hours from 6:15 to 8:30 am, Chung said.

The city will maintain the plan until December 31 and see how it works in terms of social distancing and traffic congestion, the chairman said.

Chung expressed concerns over the traffic in rush hours, mostly in the morning. Traffic participants are close to each other at crossroads when waiting for traffic lights.

He emphasized the necessity of maintaining precautions in the long run like wearing face masks in public places, practicing social distancing, and hand washing regularly.

Regarding the new move, a large number of netizens have supported the plan, saying that it’s better to open at 10:00 am to ease traffic congestion and meet the demand. Few customers go to those shops in early morning, they argued.

As of April 28, Hanoi has confirmed 112 coronavirus cases, including 85 convalescents. The city has not found new infected cases for the past 13 days.

Currently, the city has a village placed under lockdown for 28 days until May 5. As many as 13 villagers have tested positive for the virus.