Vietnam has no plans for nationwide lockdown, says August to be ‘decisive’ in containing coronavirus

Vietnam has no plans for a nationwide lockdown, the government said. “We will only implement social distancing in areas considered virus epicenters, and will not pursue a widespread lockdown,” Mai Tien Dung, the government’s spokesman, told a monthly meeting of reporters on Monday.

Selective lockdown measures will allow the government to achieve the dual goals of containing the virus and boosting the economy at the same time, Dung said. “If there’s an infection in a hamlet, we will lock down that hamlet only, not the whole district or the whole province,” he added.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc told officials that “early August will be the decisive time within which to stop the virus from spreading on a large scale,” Reuters reports.