Southern localities propose travel bans amid Covid-19 spread fears
Several provinces in the Mekong Delta region are facing Covid-19 prevention difficulties due to the large number of people returning from other localities.
Several provinces in the Mekong Delta region are facing Covid-19 prevention difficulties due to the large number of people returning from other localities.
Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee, Huynh Quoc Viet has just sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh after a large number of people returned from some neighbouring Covid-19-hit localities including HCM City, and Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An provinces.
According to the letter, as many as 1,281 people returned to the province over the last two days and the numbers might increase in the coming days.
"Most of the people are returning by their own means of transport which presents a threat that Covid-19 could spread," the letter said. "We’re having difficulties in monitoring their travelling as well as arranging quarantine facilities. Meanwhile, Ca Mau has a low Covid-19 vaccination rate with only 13.9 per cent of the population being vaccinated."
The official proposed to the PM to tighten the travelling between some southern provinces while local authorities prepare proper conditions to receive people.
"To ensure Covid-19 prevention and control, we’ll co-operate with other provinces to arrange transportation and quarantine facilities for people who want to return," the official wrote in the letter. "In the meantime, local authorities should tighten monitoring inter-provincial travelling."
Soc Trang Province also reported over 24,000 returnees between September 30 and October 3.
The provincial Party Secretary, Lam Van Man on October 3 also sent a document to the PM in which he proposed a travelling ban of 15 days among some southern provinces to give local authorities time to prepare proper conditions for Covid-19 prevention.
“If HCM City, and Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An provinces do not tighten inter-provincial travelling, we won’t be able to control the pandemic," Man wrote in the document.
Authorities in some other neighbouring provinces including Dong Thap, Can Tho, Kien Giang, An Giang, and Hau Giang have also expressed worries over Covid-19 spread among the people returning from virus-hit areas.
Kien Giang Province also received over 7,000 returnees on motorbikes in the last three days. Tan Hien District alone received over 4,000 people and four were found Covid-19 infected.
Can Tho Province on October 3 also reported six Covid-19 cases among the returnees, while Dong Thap Province found 33, An Giang 30, Soc Trang six, and Ben Tre three infections.
Since the social distancing regulations were eased in HCM City and some southern provinces from the first days of October, thousands of people have started travelling home. Most of them are low-income people who have lost jobs due to the recent virus outbreak and cannot afford life in their temporary residential places.
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