Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has allowed Ho Chi Minh City to put affected areas under lockdown after the Vietnam’s biggest city detected 29 new Covid-19 cases within two days.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the meeting on January 8. Photo: Quang Hieu/VGP

All the infections are linked to a staff working at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

“I agree with the health minister’s proposal on social distancing in the pandemic-hit areas as seven [out of 24] districts in the city,” Mr. Phuc said at the meeting on Monday afternoon [January 8].

He demanded quick response by the local government as the situation likely becomes worse in the coming days.

Mr. Phuc also said chairmen of the People’s Committees in Hanoi, Hai Duong, Haiphong, and big cities are eligible to impose tough measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Sharing the same idea, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam who is head of the National Standing Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control asks the city to maximize testing capacity to figure out the pandemic situation in the shortest possible time.

In the meantime, the city needs to impose social distancing in accordance with the prime minister’s Decree 16/CT-TTg.

Decree 16/CT-TTg, released by the prime minister on March 31, 2020, imposes social distancing in epidemic hit areas, in which people are required to stay home with limited outdoor activities, except in an emergency or to buy food, drug, and for essential services.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc said the outbreak at Tan Son Nhat Airport may exist long before it was detected in the community.

So far, Ho Chi Minh City has completed testing all 7,300 airport staff.

Health officials said the Tan Son Nhat outbreak is not linked to the Hai Duong and Quang Ninh hotspots.