The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has decided to continue imposing social distancing measures under the prime minister’s Directive No. 16 until at least August 1, but with even stricter regulations, including the suspension of production, businesses, and construction activities with low priority.

In a document signed by chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong, businesses and institutions that are allowed to continue operating during this period are as follows:

State agencies

State agencies are required to let all staff members to work from home, and only employees in charge of urgent tasks are allowed to come to the office.

The number of people working at the office must not exceed one-third of each agency’s total number of employees.

All unnecessary meetings must be canceled.

Banks and securities firms

Banks and securities firms shall only maintain an efficient number of workers or let them work alternately in different shifts to provide necessary services in a timely manner, especially at transaction offices, while ensuring social distancing requirements.

Organizations and businesses providing essential services

They include facilities providing medical services (except for cosmetic treatment); pharmaceuticals; food; meals for hospitals, medical isolation areas and COVID-19 treatment areas; electricity; water; gas; postal services; telecommunications; public sanitation; maintenance of urban transport and technical infrastructure; state treasury; funeral services; services aimed at supporting pandemic prevention and control; accommodations for health workers and quarantined experts; and other essential services regulated by competent authorities.

Other production companies are only permitted to keep operating if they are able to provide workers with safe accommodations inside their facilities, or provide them with shuttle transportation between their homes and workplaces.

Businesses providing transportation of essential goods

These firms must specialize in transporting essential goods aimed at serving people's daily needs as well as pandemic prevention and control efforts, raw materials, finished products, equipment, and spare parts for production and import and export.

Transport activities

The city’s administration allowed the operation of official vehicles, goods transport vehicles with identification QR codes, personal vehicles of state agencies and armed forces, vehicles serving the pandemic prevention mission and public service, buses repatriating stranded people to their hometowns, shuttle buses for workers and experts of companies, and taxis that are authorized by the transport department to carry essential goods or transport residents to hospitals in emergency cases.

App-based delivery workers are permitted to transport essential items, while businesses that operate these apps must register for their operations during the social distancing period. Each delivery staff must be arranged to work within one district.

Wet markets

Markets are allowed to operate under a new model and at 30 percent of their capacity.

Vendors are only permitted to sell food and essential goods.

Urgent constructions

Constructions are only allowed to be carried out if workers are provided with safe accommodations at construction sites, or shuttle transportation between their homes and construction sites.

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