Da Nang Chairman Huynh Duc Tho approved the extension Tuesday morning. The social distancing campaign had started on July 28.

The central city has undertaken the prolonged measure due to the complicated and unpredictable developments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Municipal authorities have requested localities and related units to be stricter and more effective in implementing social distancing conditions.

Residents are required to stay at home, only go out for essential needs like buying food, medicine, working in factories, manufacturing facilities, service providers that are not closed and emergencies.

Public gatherings are limited to two people and a minimum distance of two meters between each other outdoors must be maintained.

The Da Nang Center for Disease Control (CDC) has said it will continue to speed up contact tracing, improve the capacity of testing, especially group testing, perform quick zoning and timely quarantining to contain the pandemic.

The municipal Department of Health has been asked to actively treat Covid-19 patients, minimizing the number of deaths, strictly implement Covid-19 prevention and control measures at medical centers and tactical hospitals, not underestimate the situation to prevent cross-infection and provide the best protection for medical staff and patients.

The municipal Department of Industry and Trade is tasked with ensuring stockpiling of necessary goods, food and water in case the crisis is prolonged.

Starting Wednesday, Da Nang residents are asked to go to the market only once every three days. Each family will be given five coupons to use within 15 days, in order to prevent large gatherings at markets.

A health checkpoint will be set up at markets with hand sanitizers and temperature checks on entry. Buyers and sellers will also have to keep a minimum distance of two meters and wear face masks all the time.

Da Nang was the first locality in Vietnam to record a Covid-19 community transmission in 100 days on July 25.

The pace of life in Da Nang has slowed down to a crawl over the past 15 days. Its streets are deserted as most people stay indoors. However, the local task force also found many cases of people gathering for partying, playing games in internet shops, singing karaoke and abusing drugs.

The city has banned visitors and closed non-essential services like amusement parks, beauty parlors, karaoke and massage parlors and bars.

More than 10,000 people have been quarantined at medical facilities and quarantine centers in the city, many residential areas and district health centers have been locked down. Samples of over 51,000 people have been taken for testing.

Since July 25, Vietnam has recorded 405 domestic cases and 16 deaths in 15 localities since local transmission resurfaced, all of them linked to Da Nang, which alone has 283 patients including 12 deaths.

The nation’s Covid-19 tally stands at 863, 448 of them active.