If you go out to public venues in Hanoi capital and Ho Chi Minh City without donning a face mask, you will be fined between VND1-3 million.

Wearing face masks in hospitals is compulsory in Hanoi.

This is part of a new Government decree drafted by the Ministry of Health that targets those who flout regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control.

Under the decree in effect as of November 2020, wearing face masks is compulsory in public places such as railway stations, bus stations, supermarkets, among others.

The Ministry of Health has sent instructions to localities across the country to decide on when and where masking is mandatory, depending on the specific situation in the localities.

The Hanoi Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control for example has specified that hospitals, parking lots, railway/bus stations, shopping centers, supermarkets and wet markets are the five public venues where wearing the mask is compulsory.

New fines of between VND1-3 million (US$42 - 130) are given to lawbreakers as of November 15. The previous fines were just VND100,000 - 300,000 (equivalent to US$4.2 – 13).

Vietnam has so far gone through more than 70 consecutive days without detecting new locally transmitted coronavirus cases.

Only imported cases returning from overseas have sporadically been confirmed these days. They were all quarantined as soon as they landed in Vietnam, posing no risk to the community.

However, experts warned the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease may resurge this winter if prevention measures are not tightened.

According to Hoang Duc Hanh,. Vice director of the Hanoi Department of Health, local residents are showing apathy towards the virus, by not wearing face masks for instance in public places such as living quarters and wet markets as well as supermarkets.