Life in quarantine and drought in the Mekong Delta provided some of the most notable photos VnExpress published in April 2020. 

Employees of footwear maker Pouyuen Vietnam leave their plant in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, on April 8. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The largest employer in the city was ordered to close on April 14 and 15 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus among its 60,000 employees.

A customer receives noodles delivered through a homemade pulley at a restaurant in Tan Phu District, HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Le Hoai Nhan, the owner of the restaurant, said he made the system using wheels to ensure a distance of two meters with his customers as ordered by authorities.

A health official talks to a quarantined student at the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City in Thu Duc District. Photo by VnExpress/Phuong Phuong.

With students told to stay at home, the university has been used as one of the city’s 12 quarantines with around 15,700 beds since March 19. 

A pregnant health official at the Bach Mai General Hospital on April 12 after the lockdown on the hospital was lifted. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Bach Mai, Hanoi's major infection hotspot, was locked down on March 28 after eight patients and staff were found to have coronavirus infection, and 700 people stayed inside it for two weeks.

A pushcart and its owner in Long Bien Market in Hanoi's Long Bien District on April 21. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue.

Truong Quang Ta is one of hundreds of workers at the market whose work hours have been reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“I struggle to make a living these days,” the 56-year old, who has been doing this work for 10 years, said.

A woman cleans her nail salon on Bui Vien Street, District 1, HCMC on April 22, one day before the city eased its social distancing restrictions, hoping to reopen the next day. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyet Nhi.

The city has still restricted the operations of beauty salons, bars and other places of amusement.

Watermelon plants in Huong Tra Town, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on April 26 after a three-day downpour which flooded the fields with almost 30 tons of the fruit. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh.

A boat lies in the middle of a dry Kenh Lap Lake, Ba Tri District, the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre on April 28. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam.

The dry weather and saltwater intrusion in rivers have caused a lack of water in the Mekong Delta since early this year, causing major losses to farmers. An estimated 80,000 households lack water and 43,000 hectares of rice were destroyed. 

An underground subway station near the Saigon Opera House in District 1, HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

The station will be one of three below ground on the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Metro Line, which is likely to begin commercial operations at the end of 2021. 

A woman in Ha Loi Village in Hanoi talks to a health official on April 9. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

The village has remained under lockdown since April 7 after three residents contracted the coronavirus.

Two medical workers test human samples for the coronavirus at the Nghe An Center for Disease Control in the central province of Nghe An. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Hai.

They have to work five hours to test a batch.

Residents of Chi Trung Village in Van Lam District, the northern province of Hung Yen are happy their lockdown was lifted on April 30. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh.

The village of 1,800 people was closed off on April 2 after one resident contracted the coronavirus.