Ha Loi Village in Hanoi’s Me Linh District is deserted and quiet since a lockdown was imposed on Tuesday after three villagers contracted Covid-19. 

People are not allowed to go in or out of the village, and so residents have to rely on relatives to send them essential goods from outside. Ha Loi has a population of 10,870, all of whom are set to be tested for Covid-19. Nine checkpoints have been set up around the village to prevent entry or exit.

The main road that leads to the village was virtually empty on Thursday morning. Ha Loi is the second area in Hanoi after Truc Bach Street in Ba Dinh District to be isolated due to Covid-cases. Truc Bach lockdown was lifted after two weeks last month.

On Thursday six medical workers from Me Linh District visited households to collect data about people who had come into contact with the patients, and they sterilized each other before starting.

The house of "Patient 243." The 47-year-old man took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital's immunology and allergy department for a check on March 12. The couple left the hospital and ate at a shop opposite the hospital on Giai Phong Street.

Nine days later he began to develop body pain and fever and bought flu medicine from a drugstore near home.

On March 30 he visited a commune medical facility to submit his health declaration, and was told to self-quarantine at home. By then he had had close contact with family members and business partners. His samples were taken on April 4 by the Hanoi Center for Disease Control. Two days later his test results confirmed he had Covid-19. The patient and his family members were quarantined.

Two of his neigbors were later found to be infected.

The anxious face of Nguyen Thi Loi, who lives opposite to "Patient 243," when medical staff came to check temperatures and collect health declarations from her family members. They were placed in isolation since they had had direct contact with "Patient 243."

Those who had contact with the patients have their temperature checked twice a day.

On Wednesday many people in the village went to the commune medical center to furnish their health declaration.

The entire village was disinfected. Nguyen Thi Hong said: "Since the quarantine order came to the village, all members of my family have not gotten out of the house. I had to abandon my flower farm during harvest season, which will cost me VND15 million ($643.81). But it’s nothing compared to the safety of my family."

A kilometer away from the hotspot live Na Thi Sy and her family, but their lives have not been affected much by the isolation. The only problem she has now is how getting food for the next days since the market is closed and she had not prepared for this scenario.

Some farmers continue to work in their backyard garden.

Trucks carrying essential items stop on a road near the village to offload them. 

Ha Loi Village has over 100 hectares of flower farms, most are due for harvest. But the farmers cannot leave home to tend for them now. The total losses will be calculated by the authorities after the pandemic ends.