The decision was made by chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong at a meeting Friday after the city recorded five local Covid-19 cases in the past three days.

Of these, two are restaurateurs in District 3 and Go Vap District.

Phong said authorities had considered the decision very carefully as in most cases, small restaurants are the livelihood of entire families.

For restaurants of larger scale, mainly those that employ more than 10 staff, and hotels' restaurants, the city requests they serve less than 20 customers at once and ensure a safe distance between groups of diners.

HCMC recorded its first community case on April 29, then spent 20 straight days without any new cases.

Yet in the past three days, the city has reported five new cases aside from a man that had tested positive once in the community.

The city has already suspended non-essential services, including bars, karaoke and massage parlors, cultural and religious activities and banned all public gathering of more than 20 outside companies and hospitals.