Entrance to the Hung Phu 2 Industrial Zone in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City.
Photo by VnExpress/Cuu Long 

Around 9,800 of 10,000 enterprises with a 150,000 strong workforce have had to shut down over Covid-19 impacts in Can Tho, the commercial heart of the Mekong Delta. 

According to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, of 170 enterprises in industrial parks and export processing zones, only 20 are still operating. Over 38,000 employees of these enterprises have had to stop working temporarily.

The director of a seafood exporting company in the city’s Tra Noc Industrial Zone said: "When the pandemic broke out vigorously in Can Tho mid-July, we let over 3,000 workers stop working temporarily, because we couldn’t apply the stay-at-work mode for thousands of people for months."

Workers process catfish for export in a factory in the Tra Noc Industrial Zone,
Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City before a social distancing campaign began
on July 19, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Cuu Long

Since July 16, enterprises that had not registered for the stay-at-work model had to cease operations.

Can Tho has reported 3,313 Covid-19 infections since July 7. Three enterprises in industrial parks that were implementing the stay-at-work model have been closed down after many workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The city recorded a GDP of more than VND100 trillion (over $4.3 billion) last year, with export turnover reaching $2 billion.