Each will receive VND1 million ($43.35) to cover some immediate needs.

The assistance seeks to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, which has affected jobs and incomes in the two northern provinces, which house major manufacturing plants including those of Apple and Samsung.

The New Zealand embassy handed over the money through the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor on June 28 with Tredene Dobson, the ambassador, taking part in a virtual ceremony for the purpose.

"This project is a practical initiative to help ease the economic impacts of Covid-19 on the workers and their families," she said.

"I am proud to say that... we have been able to support around 3,000 women throughout Vietnam impacted by the pandemic in the last 12 months."

Since late April a fourth wave of Covid has affected a number of provinces and cities across Vietnam, with Bac Giang and Bac Ninh provinces and Ho Chi Minh City being the worst affected.

More than nine million workers have lost incomes and many families have fallen into economic hardship.