Dung said Monday that the city will increase the application of information technology in monitoring movement, without creating additional administrative procedures for individuals and businesses.

The government continues to maintain lighter lockdown measures in the city to track down possible new local cases and remove infection sources in the community.

Hanoi's transport department director Vu Van Vien said the city's continues to maintain 23 checkpoints at the gateways, but will facilitate movement of prioritized vehicles from other localities to pass through the city.

Public passenger transport to and from Hanoi as well as within the city remain suspended.

The department is also studying granting permission for appropriate numbers of shippers from ride-hailing firms to work again towards enabling residents to get takeaways from eateries.

While the latest decision removes the need for a travel permit to go out, the city still advises residents to stay at home and only go out when it is really necessary.

According to data on the Covid-19 immunization portal, as of Monday noon, Hanoi had administered more than 6.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine – more than 5.7 million people getting their first jab and nearly 700,000 getting two.

With an 18-years-and-older population of about 5.7 million people, Hanoi has fulfilled the target of first dose coverage.

The number of new cases in Hanoi has been below 20 a day for a week now, considerably lower than the previous count of 50 to 70 cases per day.

The capital applied social distancing measures under Directive 16 from July 24 onwards. Directive 16 comprises the country’s most stringent social distancing regulations, requiring residents to stay at home and only go out for basic necessities such as buying food or medicines or to work at factories or businesses that are allowed to open.

After 45 days of social distancing, Hanoi continued to impose strict lockdowns in 10 districts and partial lockdowns in five others for 15 days starting September 6.

The remaining localities were placed under Directive 15, which requires suspension of social events, bans gatherings of 20 people or more in one place and of 10 people or more outside workplaces, schools and hospitals. A minimum distance of two meters between people in public places should be ensured.

Hanoi has recorded 4,166 local Covid-19 cases since the fourth coronavirus wave hit Vietnam in late April.