Each would be given VND1.5 million ($65.26) from a VND886-billion financial package for citizens impacted by the pandemic the city approved last month.

Among those on the list are people working as domestic helpers, shoeshines, masons, hired workers, drivers’ assistants, drivers (including those working for ride-hailing firms), and mechanics.

Le Minh Tan, director of the municipal Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said they do not belong to the six groups of informal workers that had accessed the fund earlier.

The department said it had earlier drawn up a list of 237,500 informal workers to receive aid, with around 236,000 people working mostly as street vendors and garbage collectors gaining access to the package, the second released to support people affected by Covid-19 in the city.

During the first wave last year, the city had spent over VND587 billion to support more than 536,000 people.

HCMC is currently the worst hit locality in the ongoing Covid-19 wave that began in late April. It has recorded almost 36,000 cases so far.

The city has practiced social distancing for weeks, with many businesses and services shut down, leaving many people including migrants out of a job.