The normal life is getting back to Thu Dau Mot city

Although there are still many restrictions due to the fact that the locality is still applying social distancing according to Directive No. 16 of the Prime Minister, the reopening of essential goods shops has gradually warmed up life of Thu Dau Mot city. Trade and business activities signal that people's lives are gradually returning to the daily rhythm.

People are allowed to markets by permits

In the morning of September 13, after 3 days of announcing as the "green zone", according to a reporter's survey, at Thu Dau Mot market at Phu Cuong ward, people going to the market were still tightly controlled by shopping permits issued by the locality. There were only about 20 households here trading meat, fish, vegetables, spices, etc. to serve the daily needs of the people. Shops and non-essential services will continue to be closed to implement social distancing in accordance with Directive 16 of the Prime Minister until the end of September 15. The market on Nguyen Thai Hoc street of Phu Cuong ward is outside the management of Thu Dau Mot Market Management Board; dozens of business households are still closed; only 3 households are open to trade in essential items.

Both small traders and shoppers at Thu Dau Mot market equip themselves with disinfectant spray and take measures to prevent and control the spread of Covid-19

According to small traders, commodity prices in the past 3 days have been relatively stable. However, the price of processed materials, especially green vegetables, have increased by an average of VND 5,000 - 10,000 a kilogram compared to normal time. According to people, this price has decreased compared to the prices at the peak of the epidemic. The reason for the increase in prices has been attributed to the restriction of circulation and the scarcity of goods to the market.

Ms. Ho My Le, a small trader doing business on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, said that the prices of essential items have been gradually decreasing when the business activities of small businesses would return to normal in the near future.

Meanwhile, Ms. Duong Ngoc Anh, the owner of a rice restaurant on Tru Van Tho Street at Phu Cuong Ward, said that she was able to trade again, even if it was only for taking-away, but she was still very happy because she could solve the income problem. “Stopping business will affect people's income. Now, that's good enough. I just hope the epidemic will be completely over so that people can live and do business with peace of mind."

Sharing with us, Ms. Huynh Thanh Trang, living in Quarter 7 of Phu Cuong Ward, shared that when returning to the "new normal state", many people like her have also changed a lot of their daily living habits from before. When going to the street or going to the market or communicating with anyone, she would better implement disease prevention and control measures; especially to well and fully implement the "5K" message of the Ministry of Health.

Walking around the essential business points in Thu Dau City at this time, it is easy to see that when doing transactions, most small traders are equipped with disinfectant spray because everyone is aware of the dangers and the chance of infection through close contact.

The cautious steps

Thu Dau Mot City is the first "red zone" of the province to be announced as the "green zone" on the Covid-19 map and return to the "new normal state". With a view of not being "subjective and hasty", the city still puts the task of fighting the epidemic on top to create a solid foundation for the restoration of production and business activities as well as to bring people's daily life back to normal state. Therefore, for the "yellow zone" localities, including the wards of Phu Hoa, Phu Loi and Chanh Nghia, the city is still identified as an area of risks and is currently continuing to screen for F0 in the community associated with maintaining tight control in localities. The city is also continuing to maintain inter-ward epidemic control checkpoints and key checkpoints in adjacent areas; at the same time, it also strengthens inspection and supervision of the implementation of Directive 16.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Cuc, Chairwoman of the People's Committee an Standing Deputy of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in Thu Dau Mot City, said that in order to continue to firmly protect the "green zone" to gradually make the "yellow zone" green. For the rest, the city aims to strive that by September 15, 100% of people aged 18 and over will be vaccinated with at least 1 dose of Covid-19 vaccines. Regarding production and business according to the "3 on the spot" and "1 route, 2 destinations" plans, the city has 251 enterprises outside the industrial zone that are working it with 25,838 employees, of which, 82 enterprises have registered "3 on the spots" with 3,878 employees. Up to now, businesses have ensured plans for disease prevention and control in production and business operations.

Reported by Minh Duy - Translated by Vi Bao