The People’s Committee of Hanoi’s Dong Da district has ordered a temporary suspension of on-site dining at restaurants, outdoor exercise, and in-person study, from 12pm on December 13.

The move was made after the district ’s pandemic risk level was raised to Level 3 – high risk.

Under Resolution 128, there are four levels of pandemic risk – Level 1, low-risk (new normal) and labelled green; Level 2, medium-risk, labelled yellow; Level 3, high-risk, labelled orange; and Level 4, very high-risk, labelled red.

Restaurants and food and beverage establishments are still allowed to open for delivery and must close before 9pm.

Local authorities also banned gatherings of more than 20 people in a room and more than 10 people in public places. Participants are required to be fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19 and tested negative for the virus within 72 hours.

All culture, sport and entertainment activities at public places and operation of temporary markets are required to stop.

Online learning will be applied at all local schools until further notice.

Eight districts and communes in Hanoi are ranked Level 1 of pandemic risk, 21 others ranked at Level 2, with only Dong Da district ranked Level 3.

The capital has recorded more than 7,400 new community transmission cases of Covid-19 over the past two weeks, equivalent to 44 community cases per 100,000 residents per week.

Authorities in Hanoi also confirmed a record 1,000 Covid-19 cases on December 13, as Vietnam posted a daily rise of 15,377 infections.

This is the first time that the capital’s daily transmissions reached four digits since the start of the pandemic. The city also had the highest number of daily infections in the country on December 13.

The number of Covid-19 related fatalities was 242, including 75 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic now stands at 1,428,428, of which 1,423,004 have occurred since the fourth wave started in late April.

December 13’s figures include 28 imported cases; with 15,349 domestic infections. A total of 8,891 new transmissions were detected in the community.

Binh Phuoc recorded the second-most cases with 998, followed by Tay Ninh with 919.

Vietnam’s Covid death toll now stands at 28,081, about 2 per cent of total infections.

There are currently 7,730 Covid-19 patients nationwide in a serious condition, with 817 requiring invasive ventilation and 19 on life support.

A further 1,192 patients were given the all-clear on December 13, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,055,912.

A total of 593,374 doses of vaccines were administered in Vietnam on December 13. Almost 58 million people in the country have now been fully inoculated; while around 75 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK