The Ministry of Transport’s new move comes after the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said many people needing to travel abroad for work or studies have difficulty reaching airports amid social distancing rules that require taxi drivers to prove they are out on the streets for "essential purposes."

But drivers had not been told earlier how they could prove this to get through Covid-19 checkpoints, and so they were unwilling to do the airport run.

Now they have been told to present a copy of passengers’ air tickets, negative PCR test results and passengers’ names and itineraries attested by local authorities.

After dropping off passengers, the vehicles must return immediately and not pick up anyone on the way back.

Vietnam is going through its fourth and most challenging Covid wave so far, recording 237,538 infections in 62 out of its 63 cities and provinces and 4,452 deaths since it began last April.

HCMC has accounted for 135,485 cases, followed by neighboring Binh Duong Province (34,659).