A health worker instructs a man on how to take a quick Covid-19 test
in Binh Thanh District, HCMC, August 23, 2021.
Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran 

The novel coronavirus infection rate in HCMC has been decreasing over the past few days, based on samples tested, the Health Ministry says. 

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said Wednesday that healthcare staff have collected around 500,000 samples for Covid-19 testing this week.

Around 3.6 percent of the samples have tested positive for the virus, showing a reduction in infection rates from earlier, he said.

During the city's social distancing periods people have drastically cut down on going outside and road traffic has reduced by around 80 percent from before, he noted.

"If we keep this up, along with ramping up Covid-19 vaccination, the coronavirus situation in Ho Chi Minh City will be brought under control soon," Long said.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has said that in order to control outbreaks, social distancing measures must be strictly followed, and people must have access to medical services anytime and anywhere.

Ho Chi Minh City, epicenter of Vietnam's fourth coronavirus wave since April, has recorded 190,166 local cases.

The southern metropolis has undergone a series of social distancing orders, with the latest one expected to last until mid-September. The city has further tightened social distancing restrictions starting August 23 amid worrying coronavirus situations, asking residents to not go out even for getting food, which would be delivered to their doorstep by local authorities.

"Medicine package for Covid-19 patients" to support patients self-isolating at home. Each donation worth VND380,000 ($16.65) can help by medicine for one patient. For more information regarding donation methods, kindly refer to this link.