Vietnam to end virus lockdown in largest city after 3 months

By HAU DINH
Associated Press

VUNG TAU, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam will lift the lockdown in its largest city on Friday, ending nearly three months of restrictions on movement to curb a coronavirus surge. People in Ho Chi Minh City will be able to leave their homes, but the government will still enforce social distancing and travel in and out of the city will be controlled. The delta variant infected 770,000 people and killed over 19,000 in three months, with Ho Chi Minh City accounting for the majority of deaths. Vietnam is speeding up vaccinations by prioritizing big cities and squeezing the shots into a shorter timeframe to get both doses into more people. Almost half of Ho Chi Minh City’s adults have received both shots, while Vietnam’s overall vaccination rate is low.