People exercise on Hiền Vương Street in HCM City’s Tân Phú District on Sunday as the city gradually lifts COVID restrictions. It is designated level 2 or at medium risk in the four levels in the pandemic scale. VNS Photo Gia Lộc

HCM CITY — HCM City has been assessed as being at level 2, or medium risk of pandemic, in the four levels of risk under the Government’s Resolution 128.

The four are low risk (new normal) or green, medium risk or yellow, high risk or orange, and very high risk or red.

Tăng Chí Thượng, head of the Department of Health, told Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper that since it is at level 2, the city would continue to relax restrictions.

Thủ Đức City and the eight districts of Gò Vấp, Tân Bình, 1, 7, 8, 10, Cần Giờ, and Củ Chi are at level 1.

Districts 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, Phú Nhuận, Bình Thạnh, Tân Phú, Hóc Môn, Nhà Bè, and Bình Chính are at the level 2.

Bình Tân is at level 3.

The results of the weekly assessment of the risk levels will be updated on https://covid19.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/bando and https://bando.tphcm.gov.vn every Monday from now.

City People’s Committee chairman Phan Văn Mãi said districts would be allowed to reopen the economy based on their risk level. Thus, those at level 1 would be allowed to reopen more businesses than those at levels 2 and 3, he said.   

The city, at level 2, will allow production, trade and transportation activities if they meet all safety criteria.

Contractors of traffic projects and related works can resume work if they have safety plans in place.

Supermarkets, convenience stores, wholesale markets, and commercial centres can reopen on the same condition.

If necessary, the People’s Committee will limit the number of sellers and buyers at a time.  

It also plans to limit the number of participants at religious and amusement places.

Educational activities will remain online.

According to the Department of Health, the number of COVID cases has reduced but remains high.

The rate of people aged above 18 years who have been vaccinated has reached 99.12 per cent.

Thượng said though the city is at level 2, its COVID-prevention and control plans are at level 3 because of the high number of new cases.

The city plans to surveil the outbreak trajectory to detect clusters early and extinguish them rapidly.

Patients are treated safely and effectively thanks to the mobilisation of medical stations and teams.

Private and public hospitals are converting their COVID quarantine areas into treatment departments.

Districts are setting up new field hospitals.

The city plans to develop three-tier field hospitals so that patients no longer need to be sent to other hospitals if their condition worsens.  

According to the city Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention, many of the new cases now are people returning from other provinces and cities to work.

Health workers are using a new procedure to investigate and handle clusters by narrowing them as much as possible when one patient is found.

The centre advises people to comply with the Ministry of Health’s 5k message to wear masks, frequently disinfect hands, maintain a safe distance, refrain from gathering, and make health declarations even after getting two vaccine shots. — VNS