Vietnam deploys troops to enforce closure in the largest city

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HANOI, Aug 23 (Reuters) – On Monday, Vietnamese soldiers were deployed on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City to help enforce a blockade on the country’s business center, which has become the epicenter of its worst coronavirus outbreak so far during the pandemic.

Panic buying erupted in the city’s nine-million-dollar supermarkets over the weekend ahead of the tightest closure, which began Monday and bans residents from leaving their homes. Read more

Vietnam’s toughest order still comes amid an increase in deaths and infections.

Soldiers on Monday were checking residents’ permits on the streets and delivering food, according to witnesses and photographs in the state media.

The city began moving restrictions early last month, but infections have continued to rise after authorities said the curbs had not been strictly enforced.

The city has recorded a total of 176,000 COVID-19 infections and 6,670 deaths, accounting for half of the global cases in the Southeast Asian country and 80% of fatalities, according to the health ministry.

In recent weeks, Vietnam has sent 14,600 additional doctors and nurses to the city and its neighboring provinces to support its overflowing medical system, the ministry said.

Patients with mild or asymptomatic symptoms have been told to isolate themselves at home.

People in the city’s Phu Nhuan and Go Vap districts told Reuters they had received packages of rice, meat, fish and vegetables.

The government announced on Friday that it would send 130,000 tons of rice from state reserves to Ho Chi Minh City and 23 other cities and provinces.

Having managed to contain COVID-19 for much of last year, Vietnam has so far recorded 348,000 infections and at least 8,277 deaths, with the majority recorded in the current Delta-driven outbreak since late April.

About 1.8 million 98 million people, or 1.8% of the country’s population, have been completely vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the region.

Edited by Ed Davies and Ana Nicolaci da Costa

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