Vietnam to deploy troops, issues house arrest order while COVID-19 dead spiral

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A man living in an enclosed area receives food through a barricade during the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on July 20, 2021. Photo taken on 20 July 2021. REUTERS / Stringer

  • The southern city accounts for 80% of coronavirus deaths
  • Troops will mobilize to enforce closure, deliver food
  • The prime minister is demanding massive tests in Ho Chi Minh City
  • The crisis follows more than 1 year of virus containment

HANOI, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Vietnam will deploy troops to Ho Chi Minh City and ban residents from leaving their homes, authorities said on Friday as the country’s largest city resorted to drastic measures to curb the spiral rate of coronavirus deaths.

Vietnam’s toughest order still comes amid a rise in fatalities and infections, despite weeks of blockade measures at the 9 million-person mall, the epicenter of the country’s deadliest outbreak.

“We ask people to stay where you are, not to take to the streets. Every home, business and factory should be a strong antivirus,” Pham Duc Hai, deputy director of the city’s coronavirus authority, said on Friday.

The government said it was preparing to mobilize police and military to enforce the closure and deliver food supplies to citizens.

On Friday, police with loudspeakers were seen driving through residential areas instructing people to follow protocols and assuring them that food would be provided.

The Defense Ministry plans to send 1,000 military doctors and medical equipment over the weekend, according to a military document reviewed by Reuters.

The government also extended restrictions on Friday in the capital Hanoi by another 15 days, state media reported.

News of the worsening coronavirus crisis hit Vietnam stocks on Friday and its benchmark index (.VNI) closed at 3.3%.

Vietnam has been slow to acquire vaccines and by the end of April had one of the best containment records in the world, with 35 deaths and just over 2,900 cases as of May 1st.

But since then, it has passed more than 312,000 cases and 7,150 deaths, with about half of infections and 80% of fatalities in Ho Chi Minh City alone.

Half of Ho Chi Minh City residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, but at a meeting last Thursday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered authorities to do massive tests there as well.

“If you don’t try them in the next two weeks, it would be your fault,” Chinh told Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long at the meeting, according to state channel VTV.

Edited by Martin Petty

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