Land acquisition, compensation payments and resettlement for affected households should be completed by the end of July so that construction on HCM City’s second metro line can begin, city officials have said.

HCM City on July 4 hit back at rumours that it will lock down the entire city for epidemic prevention, saying the information is incorrect that affects the ongoing COVID-19 fight in the city.

Ho Chi Minh City reported the latest discovery of a further 169 local cases of COVID-19 on July 4 evening, taking its daily infection count to 599 on a single day, according to the Ministry of Health.

A research group from Ho Chi Minh City-based Fulbright University and Tech4Covid research team forecast that HCM City will be able to control the Covid-19 epidemic by the end of August.

HCM City's plan to relocate more than 20,000 shacks on and along its canals between 2016 and 2020 has lagged behind schedule because of a lack of funds and investors’ interest.

So far, a total of 459 Covid-19 patients have been detected while they were using medical services at 55 of 130 hospitals in HCM City.

HCM City authorities have tightened COVID prevention measures by setting up 25 task forces in 21 districts and Thu Duc City, and improving testing capacity to one million samples per day.

More than 20,000 people in Phu Tho Hoa Ward in Tan Phu District in HCM City on June 29 waited in line to have samples taken for nCoV testing in a large-scale screening campaign.

Despite drastic measures, the Covid-19 outbreak developments in HCM City remain complicated. The enforced social distancing period will end on June 30 and it has been difficult for the city to decide whether to extend the period.

HCM City will continue to apply citywide social distancing in line with Directive 10, after the social distancing period under the less restrictive Directive 15 ends on Tuesday.

HCM City should focus investment on flood-prevention, environmental protection, public transport and traffic-congestion projects to improve both quality of life and economic growth, the city People’s Council has said.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s busiest and most populous locality, is expected to extend social distancing which was imposed a month ago as the number of newly detected cases has increased considerably these days.

HCM City authorities plan to reduce investment for the first bus rapid transit route (BRT No 1) by US$12.17 million (from $155.85 million to $143.68 million), 

To prevent overloading at centralized quarantine facilities, the Ministry of Health has allowed people categorized as F1 cases (having close contact with Covid-19 patients) to be under home quarantine.

Ho Chi Minh City is building more than 10 hectares of public parks and two hectares of public green spaces by the end of the year.

Just after having the first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, Thuy was informed that she had become the F1 (close contact) of an infection case, but she was not too worried.

There were 15 new COVID-19 cases announced on Saturday morning, but the Ministry of Health also added a further 563 cases to their total, all detected in HCM City on Friday.

Five days after Vietnam’s biggest city launched the largest-ever vaccination campaign, more than 400,000 people have been vaccinated, said Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh at a press conference yesterday.

HCM City is building more than 10 hectares of public parks and two hectares of public green spaces by the end of the year.

The HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed that the Department of Planning and Investment spend VND230 billion (US$9.97 million) to support freelance workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.