Hanoi sidewalk eateries, iced tea stalls ignore Covid-19 prevention regulations

Hanoi will conduct mass community testing for Covid-19 at places where foreigners live and gather as it seeks to preclude spread due to imported cases, according to Vnexpress.

The Department of Health said the tests, to begin on Thursday, are meant to identify all cases of infection as early as possible, especially those whose source of transmission is unknown.

Those tested will include people living and working in areas with a high risk of infection like factories and industrial parks where foreigners work or live, workers at eateries that serve foreigners, and travelers chosen randomly at major bus stations around the city.

The department expects to test around 4,000 people in all.

The focus on foreigners is because Vietnam allows experts and skilled workers to enter, which poses a possible threat of infection spread.

Recently a Japanese who entered Vietnam on January 17 and was quarantined in Ho Chi Minh City before traveling to Hanoi died with Covid-19 at a hotel in Tay Ho District.

The testing will be done in two phases on March 11-12 and 15-19.

Hanoi also allowed historical sites to reopen from Monday while its popular walking streets near Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake will resume operation from Friday. The move follows three weeks without Covid-19 community transmissions in the capital city. Huong (Perfume) Pagoda, a collection of temples and shrines built amid mountains and forest in the outlying district of My Duc, will welcome tourists back from Saturday but must comply with pandemic prevention measures.

The city has reported 36 locally-transmitted cases as the third wave of Covid-19 resurged in the country on January 28.