The HCMC government has announced the Covid-19 transmission risk levels for the city and 21 districts and Thu Duc City in line with the Government’s Resolution 128 and the Ministry of Health’s Decision 4800.

At present, a total of 11,409 patients are under treatment in HCM City, including 369 severe cases.

Twelve checkpoints in the gateways to HCM City will only check vaccination records and will not require a negative COVID-19 test for people traveling to HCM City, except for those coming from "very high-risk" areas.

The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached 5.1 billion USD in the first nine months of 2021, up 22 percent year on year, the State Bank of Vietnam’s Branch in the city has reported.

HCM City has had more than 11,000 hospitalized Covid-19 patients and more than 2,000 deaths per week in the fourth Covid-19 wave that began in late April. Dozens of field hospitals were established and all of them were overloaded.

Thu Duc City and all districts in HCMC must assess their pandemic transmission risk in line with the Government’s Resolution 128 on safely and flexibly living with the pandemic every week,

On recent weekends, people in Ho Chi Minh City have flocked to Nguyen Hue pedestrian street in downtown District 1 to take pictures, walk and chat, following the loosening of social distancing measures.

All 22 districts in HCM City and Thu Duc City have met the criteria for epidemic control and are ready to enter the “new normal” stage, said HCM City People's Council Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Le at the council’s 3rd session on October 18.

The HCM City Department of Health has begun to close COVID-19 field hospitals located at dormitories and schools as the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped in recent weeks.

Ho Chi Minh City currently has no plans to vaccinate children aged 12-17 against COVID-19, deputy head of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Pham Duc Hai affirmed on October 18.

Experts have warned that workers say they will only return to HCM City after Tet, leaving a labor shortage at many businesses.

In many countries, only Pfizer vaccine has been approved for people aged 12 to 17. In Vietnam, this vaccine may be also used for children.

With 98.5 percent of people aged 18 and over having been vaccinated and 75 percent of adults fully vaccinated, many people mistakenly believe that HCM City has reached herd immunity.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and local authorities to count the number of children who became orphans in the Covid-19 epidemic and propose policies to support them.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health announced on October 15 that it is expected to issue a vaccination plan against COVID-19 for those between the age of 12 and 18.

Although the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in HCMC has shown positive results, the city will not be able to fully achieve new normal by November, said municipal chairman Phan Van Mai.

Colonel Nguyen Tuan Bao, Deputy Political Commissar of the HCM City Command, told VietNamNet that the military force has begun to withdraw from HCM City from October 13 as the pandemic there has been basically controlled.

As many as 500,000 workers have left the labor market in the last five months, while a high number of workers have left HCM City for their hometowns, resulting in a serious labor shortage.

After a long period of closure, karaoke bars and cinemas are facing hard times. The future of entertainment services is unclear.

HCM City is formulating a plan to develop one million low-cost homes for workers and low-income people, said city chairman Phan Van Mai.