Several HCMC streets were bustling with cars, motorbikes and other vehicles, just days from the formal ending of an ongoing current social distancing order. 

At 9 a.m. Thursday, large numbers of vehicles were moving along the Ba Thang Hai Street, one of the main routes leading into downtown Ho Chi Minh City from the west, and also a frequent traffic congestion site.

The Nguyen Tri Phuong Street was also busy with traffic.

About 6 km away, many vehicles plied Cong Hoa Street in Tan Binh District.

Cong Hoa is the main traffic route from District 12, Hoc Mon and Tan Binh districts to the Tan Son Nhat Airport and downtown areas.

At 10 a.m., vehicles flocked to downtown areas through the Lang Cha Ca overpass which arches through Hoang Van Thu Street.

Several motorbikes were topped at a Covid-19 checkpoint on Hoang Minh Giam Street in Phu Nhuan District.

A man checks the approval documents of vehicles passing through a Covid-19 checkpoint on Nguyen Kiem Street in Go Vap District. Each check lasts about 30 seconds. Most people who went out did so to buy food, go to work or to medical facilities.

At certain points, the checkpoint had to let everyone pass through to prevent large gatherings.

At 5:30 p.m., just half an hour before people are banned from going out under night time restrictions, motorbikes crowded the Rach Chiec overpass on the Hanoi Highway, the main route of the southern city's eastern entrance.

A large influx of vehicles on the streets right before Ho Chi Minh City was supposed to end its current social distancing period on August 15 might be due to insufficient checkpoints and traffic personnel, or simply because people got more creative with evading checkpoints, observers said.

Some other main streets however, stayed desolate, like the Nguyen Huu Tho-Nguyen Thi Thap Intersection in District 7.

On Friday, the municipal Party Committee said Ho Chi Minh City might need to extend its social distancing order until September 15.

The southern metropolis has become the epicenter of the fourth coronavirus wave which struck the nation in late April. It has recorded 140,539 local cases so far, the highest in the country.