Duong Anh Duc, deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee, said Thursday that the city was allowing people working certain jobs to go out to supply essential goods or work on infrastructural maintenance. This has meant around 1.2 million more people allowed out on the streets, he said.

Since several roads have been blocked as part of Covid-19 containment and prevention measures, vehicles can only travel on certain routes, thereby increasing traffic density, he added.

Another contributing factor is that more than 200,000 residents in the city also go out to get their vaccine shots every day, Duc said.

"If those who go out to get vaccinated abide by coronavirus control measures, there will be no risk of infection," he said.

Most people on the streets have legitimate reasons to go out, and only 1.5 percent are found doing so unnecessarily, according to the municipal police department.

Since the beginning of August, the vehicle density on the several HCMC roads has been rising, most of them being motorbikes, according to the municipal transport department.

Ho Chi Minh City, now the epicenter of Vietnam's fourth coronavirus wave, has recorded 164,342 local Covid-19 cases so far in the new wave.

The city of 13 million has undergone a series of social distancing orders, with the latest one being extended until September 15.