Ho Chi Minh City temporarily suspends all 51 checkpoints at its gateways.

The above announcement was made by Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Ngo Minh Chau at a meeting proposing the temporary suspension of Covid-19 checkpoints and control stations in the city. Specifically, 51 checkpoints and control stations will cease operation from 6 PM on October 26th.

Ho Chi Minh City deployed 12 main checkpoints at city gateways and 39 checkpoints bordering other provinces starting from July 9th – when Directive 16 was implemented. Along with these checkpoints, the city established over 300 checkpoints on inner-city roads during the period of tightened social distancing. These inner-city checkpoints were dismantled at the end of September, when the city eased social distancing measures from October 1st. However, the main checkpoints remain in operation to this day.

Along with discontinuing checkpoints at city entrances, the city government has instructed the City Police and related units to continue mobile patrols and strictly handle cases of violations of epidemic prevention regulations at bus stations, train stations, inter-provincial freight and passenger transport routes, etc.

The Department of Transportation, the City Police, and related units are required to inspect the criteria and regulations regarding freight and passenger transportation activities of transportation units to ensure adaptability, safety, flexibility, and epidemic prevention.

The City Health Department is specifically responsible for coordinating with relevant authorities to control and prevent the spread of the disease at bus stations, train stations, airports, and inter-provincial passenger and cargo transport routes. The City People's Committee has instructed this department to monitor the developments of the new variant of Covid-19.

Recently, COVID-19 prevention and control efforts in Ho Chi Minh City have shown positive results, with a significant decrease in new cases, severe cases requiring hospitalization, and deaths. On October 24th, the City People's Committee declared the epidemic in the area at level 2 (yellow zone - medium risk). From October 1st, Ho Chi Minh City allowed many industries and sectors to resume operations.