Now all establishments, even stores selling groceries and food, have to close at 6 p.m. Besides, most lack enough delivery people, resulting in late delivery or undelivered orders.

According to the department, since August 23 some 1.34 million households, or more than half the city’s total number, have registered for shopping services under the proxy shopping model.

HCMC is scheduled to reopen Binh Dien, its largest wholesale market, on Tuesday. It will also reopen more traditional markets that were closed after people inside were found to have Covid.

HCMC, with 258,500 Covid-19 cases recorded since the end of April, has ordered people to "stay where they are" since late August and mobilized military personnel and local authorities to do proxy shopping for citizens.

But as residents have complained that their grocery orders were slow to arrive, the city started letting shippers to resume work this week.