Amid the stay-at-home order to contain Covid-19, Nha Trang, one of Vietnam’s top tourist destinations, lies deserted. 

There is no traffic on Tran Phu Bridge crossing the Cai River, which is part of the main route connecting central Nha Trang with outlying communes and wards.

The administration of Khanh Hoa Province, home to Nha Trang, ordered more than 500,000 citizens of the town’s 27 wards and communes not to leave their homes for seven days starting last Saturday.

Since Aug. 6, the entire province has imposed Directive 16, which does not allow people to leave home apart for getting food, medicine, medical treatment or work.

An ambulance had to turn around after facing a barricade on To Hieu Street in Vinh Truong Commune on Aug. 15.

The town has already locked down 15 communes and wards and banned people from going out from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.

By Wednesday, Nha Trang had recorded 2,767 community cases in the total caseload of 4,951 that Khanh Hoa has registered so far in the ongoing wave that hit Vietnam in late April.

A police officer checks the paper of a water transporter in Loc Tho Ward.

Since the seven-day lockdown was imposed, Nha Trang authorities have fined 450 violators a total VND920 million ($40,390).

Huu Thi Thuan, 73, is taken home by her niece on Hoang Hoa Tham Street on Tuesday.

Thuan must undergo dialysis thrice per week at Khanh Hoa General Hospital in Nha Trang. Her niece said under the new Covid-19 restriction, she could still take Thuan to the hospital for treatment and that all she has to do was present the required papers.

However, on Tuesday, "there were no staff guarding the checkpoint and I didn’t dare go through so I am taking my aunt back home. We will return tomorrow," said the niece.

Local people and volunteers buy food at a stall allowed to open by authorities on Xom Con Street of Van Thanh Ward on Wednesday. All wet markets, supermarkets and convenience stores in town have been shut down.

Wearing a white helmet, Trinh Thi Ngoc Trang, 37, a volunteer, said she and others would buy and deliver food on behalf of each household.

"All vendors are tested every three days and that makes us feel more secured," said Trang.

Volunteers from Khanh Hoa’s Communist Youth Union prepares packages of food for the poor.

An official in Phuoc Long Ward instructs families in a blockaded residential area in social distancing regulations as the ward provides food to families.

Nguyen Sy Khanh, Nha Trang’s chairman, said the town has spent more than VND3.5 billion for local authorities to supply food to more than 11,770 poor families.

Volunteers deliver food and essential products to a student boarding house on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street.

Do Thi Phuong, a student of Nha Trang University, receives a gift package.

Phuong said her boarding house has been blockaded for over a month now following many coronavirus infections and therefore she and others could not go out to buy food.

"In such a difficult time, receiving this support really warms my heart," she said.

A resident of central Binh Dinh Province, Nguyen Van Bao, 33, stays with his wife and six-year-old daughter in a rented apartment of 40 square meters in Vinh Phuoc Ward.

A mechanic, Bao has remained unemployed for more than a month while his wife who works at a coffee shop has been in the same situation. The family of three has kept themselves at home and avoided going out as much as they could.

Bao’s wife Nguyen Thi Ngoc Loan, 28, said there have been days when the family ran out of food and had to rely on instant noodles. She added they have received support from many benefactors who gave them rice and food.

"All we want now is for this outbreak to be controlled and everything to return to normal."

Nguyen Van Binh, 61, in Phuoc Long Ward waters his family’s vegetable garden.

After three tests in a row, there has been no infections found in his neighborhood. There, his neighbors have decided to isolate the entire area to limit anyone from outside and protect the community in this area from any possible Covid-19 risks.

A makeshift barrier built by local people with permission from authorities to protect an area, marked as "green", where no infections have been found on Tran Nhat Duat Street of Phuoc Hoa Ward.

In its Covid-19 fighting strategy, Nha Trang is making use of a seven-day lockdown to test local residents and separate all Covid-19 cases from the community.