One third of the country’s population under quarantine
(ANSA) – HANOI, JUL 24 – Vietnam has ordered the lockdown for the eight million inhabitants of the capital Hanoi, as a last attempt to curb a serious coronavirus outbreak that has already forced a third of the country to stay at home.
Yesterday, authorities reported more than 7,000 new infections nationwide, the third record number of daily infections in a week.
After successfully containing limited coronavirus outbreaks last year, Vietnam has experienced a surge in cases since late April. About a third of Vietnam’s 100 million people are already subject to lockdown orders.
But the outbreak showed little sign of slowing, and Ho Chi Minh City, which has recorded most of the recent cases, extended a stay-at-home order for its citizens yesterday. Authorities have started a campaign to disinfect the entire city, which will take a week.
Vietnam was one of the few economies that grew last year, thanks to its success in containing the virus during the first wave of the pandemic. But the country has been slow to procure and administer vaccines, with just 4.5 million inoculated doses so far. Authorities hope to achieve herd immunity by early 2022.
(ANSA).