I wish I would say that things were getting better and that the extreme lockdowns have been having some effect on overall numbers in this country but that is definitely not the case. As it turns out... when you start testing people so much you find more cases and from what I have been reading / hearing, most of the people that end up testing positive for the virus had no idea they had it. They were not feeling any effects but because of these cases the government moves to limit more and more movement.
About a month ago they closed all the bars and limited restaurants to take away and delivery only. Then about 2 weeks ago they stopped all the food delivery companies like Grab (think Uber Eats if you don't know what Grab is.) This had no effect on the climbing numbers so then they closed all public spaces, then about a week ago they banned all outdoor exercise (gyms have been closed for ages). All of these things have not curtailed the climbing numbers so it was announced yesterday that all restaurants will be forced to close all operations.
The thing that gets me about this is the fact that people are still going to need to get food in order to survive so this really isn't going to stop anyone from moving around, it is just changing where they are going to have to move to and in many instances it is going to mean that MORE, not less, people are going to be descending on the same establishments in order to get food. Which is to mean that supermarkets and outdoor markets are going to see even more traffic than they normally would. Now that we have NO OTHER CHOICE but to go to supermarkets everyone is going to do so.
Does this make sense to you?
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I very rarely go to supermarkets because I don't have any transport and there are loads of restaurants that are near my area and I can get all the variety that I need from them and I also get to support their business. I also don't have to cook anything and this is just a win all around in my book. I NEVER go to outdoor markets because they have an interior temperature of the sun and you are packed in there like sardines.
To make the population even more suicidal, they are instating a city-wide curfew at either 6 or 8 pm starting tonight. You are not supposed to be out of your house for any reason other than medical emergencies.
It's difficult to imagine now but this street used to be a bastion of activity and loads of locals and tourists used to flock here day and night and spend what I presume is loads of money. As far as I know nothing has been open on this road for a while now other than a few restaurants serving take-away and that all will come to a stop tonight.
The worst thing about all of this is that they haven't given us any indication as to how long this is meant to last. In the past lockdowns they at least presented us with a timeline and objectives for reopening but this time around they aren't even doing that anymore.
So in summary here is what our lockdown ensues.
- You can not leave the city unless you are catching an international flight out of the country in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City and when you do that you have to get a PCR test and are not allowed out of the airports
- You can not get food from a restaurant at all
- You can not go outside for any reason other than to get food or medicine
- Exercise is banned
- Gatherings of more than two people outside of their own homes is forbidden
- Starting tonight you can't leave your house at all past either 6 or 8 pm
Sounds pretty awesome huh? The few of us that remain here in in the expat community are making our plans to get out. I feel bad for the people that can't leave for financial reasons - flights are crazy expensive right now - or for the Vietnamese who are not allowed to leave unless they are super rich (those guys get to do whatever they want.)