Monday morning saw motorbikes and cars flock to downtown areas in Hanoi, although streets around the Sword Lake remained relatively empty. 

At 7 a.m. Monday, vehicles had begun plying in large numbers on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street in Dong Da District. Several other streets like Nguyen Trai, Kim Ma and Nguyen Thai Hoc also had similar traffic flows.

Hanoi is currently under a Covid-19 social distancing order that is expected to end on August 23. Residents have been asked to stay at home and not venture out unless it is absolutely necessary.

While the number of vehicles on the streets has markedly reduced during the social distancing order, traffic density has remained high.

Vehicles line up at a Covid-19 checkpoint. To prevent traffic congestion, authorities began checking approval documents at random, instead of requiring all vehicles to stop.

Motorbikes at 7:30 a.m. on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

A long line of vehicles get on the Tay Son-Nguyen Luong Bang overpass.

Heavy traffic on Nguyen Luong Bang Street.

In contrast to the bustling scenes on roads leading to downtown areas, streets in the heart of the city, like Dinh Tien Hoang near the Hoan Kiem Lake, remained mostly deserted. Multiple Covid-19 checkpoints have been erected near the area to prevent people from going out unnecessarily.

A motorbike goes past a famous war commemoration monument near the Hoan Kiem Lake.

Two women on Ly Quoc Su Street, with a barricade erected nearby to separate the Hang Bong and Hang Manh streets.

The Hang Ma Street, which is usually crowded with people shopping for joss papers and other offerings to burn during certain ceremonies, was nearly empty.

Every day, police officers petrol the streets to monitor shops and businesses and remind people to abide by social distancing measures.

Hanoi has so far recorded 2,484 local Covid-19 cases since the fourth coronavirus wave hit Vietnam in late April.