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A delivery man rides a scooter on a quiet street in Vung Tau, Vietnam, on Jul 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) - 

Vietnam put its entire southern region in a two-week lockdown starting midnight on Sunday (Jul 18), as confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 3,000 for the third day in a row.

The lockdown order includes the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City metropolis, the country’s financial and economic hub with more than 35 million people — nearly a third of Vietnam's population.

Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of the surge, had already announced a full lockdown a week ago, after dozens of cases were reported in late May. The city now accounts for most of the cases in the country with more than 2,000 daily.

“The situation is getting serious with a high rate of transmission, especially with the dangerous delta variant. We have to put the health and safety of the people as top priority,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was quoted as saying in announcing the restrictions.

The government order bans all gatherings of more than two people in public places except for government offices, hospitals and a handful of essential businesses. People are requested to only leave home to buy necessities such as food, medicine, or for vital matters.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the country’s committee for COVID-19 pandemic prevention, said the lockdown order must be applied strictly since the latest wave has spread to 57 of the country’s 63 municipalities and provinces while the vaccine supply is still limited.

“We have to keep the transmission rate at the lowest possible to ensure the health system functions effectively and is not being overloaded,” Dam said.

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam has received only about 6 million of the 124 million doses of vaccine it had secured through the UN-backed COVAX facility and in direct orders with vaccine manufactures.

A screenshot - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati during the International Conference of the National Committee for Sharia Economy and Finance held virtually in Jakarta on Thursday (July 14, 2021)ANTARA/Agatha Olivia - 

The government is set to raise the budget for the pre-employment card program by Rp10 trillion to Rp30 trillion from Rp20 trillion earlier to help alleviate the financial burden of the people during the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM).

"We will raise the budget by Rp10 trillion to Rp30 trillion so the number of pre-employment program participants will increase by 2.8 million," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in an online press conference on Saturday night.

The government has originally set aside the budget for the pre-employment card program at Rp20 trillion to cover 5.5 million participants. With an additional Rp10 trillion budget, the number of participants will rise 2.8 million to 8.4 million, she said.

The decision to raise the budget for the program is based on the survey which suggested that the program proved effective to help job seekers and laid-off workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Under the additional pre-employment card program, each recipient will get training aid of Rp1 million and incentive of Rp600 thousand per month for four months. In total, each recipient will get Rp2.4 million per month plus Rp50 thousand for participating in the survey.

The rise in the budget for pre-employment card program is part of the additional social assistance of Rp39.9 trillion to help alleviate the financial burden of the people during the emergency public activity restriction (PPKM) aimed at curbing an exponential spike in COVID-19 cases due to the spread of more infectious delta variant of coronavirus.

The government will soon evaluate the emergency PPKM for Java and Bali which will end on July 20, 2021.

The government is expected to announce whether or not to extend the emergency PPKM in two to three days by taking into account several factors including a daily rise in COVID-19 cases and bed occupancy rate at hospitals//ANT

A junior high school student receives a COVID-19 shot at the parking lot of Gembira Loka Zoo in Yogyakarta on July 13, 2021. (ANTARA FOTO/Hendra Nurdiyansyah/wsj) - 

The government has decided to raise the budget for the COVID-19 handling and national economic recovery (PEN) program to Rp744.7 trillion from the initial ceiling of Rp699.4 trillion, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said."(The budget funds) for the COVID-19 handling and PEN program will increase to Rp744.75 trillion, in accordance with the decision agreed upon by Mr. President," she informed at an online press conference in Jakarta on Saturday night.

The minister said the budget allocation for the social protection program will increase to Rp187.84 trillion from Rp153.86 trillion, while the allocation for the health program will rise to Rp214.95 trillion from Rp172 trillion earlier.

Budget allocations for other programs are still being considered, but their amount will not be far different from the initially ceiling, based on the evaluation of the ongoing programs, the minister added.

"(The budget funds) for business incentives are pegged at Rp62.83 trillion, while those for MSMEs will fall slightly because they will be focused on credit for working capital insurance, instead of cash assistance. (The budget funds) for other priority programs will remain unchanged at Rp117.94 trillion. So, the budget funds for PEN and COVID-19 handling program will increase from Rp699.43 trillion to Rp744.75 trillion," Indrawati said.

With the change in the budget funding for COVID-19 handling and PEN program, there will be an increase of Rp55.2 trillion in the allocation, she noted.

"We will refocus (the state budget) to check and comb budget funds at ministries and institutions as well as regional governments so they can all be directed towards helping people handle COVID-19 and the business world recover," she remarked//ANT

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, addressing an online press conference in Jakarta on Thursday (July 15, 2021). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenko Marves) - 

The government is preparing to disburse additional social assistance worth Rp39.19 trillion to alleviate the financial burden on the people caused by the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM), a senior minister has said.

"Mr. President has instructed his ministers to channel aid to the people to alleviate their burden during the emergency PPKM (enforcement)," Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said at an online press conference in Jakarta on Saturday night.

Pandjaitan, who is also coordinator for the emergency PPKM, said President Joko Widodo has directed Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini to realize the additional social assistance soon.

The aid will comprise the distribution of 10 kilograms of rice to 18.9 million beneficiary families and cash assistance to 10 million beneficiary families, he informed.

"(The government) will later provide additional aid in the form of basic necessities to 18.9 million beneficiary families," he said.

The government will also increase the budget funds for 5.9 million beneficiary families at the request of regional governments, allocate Rp10 trillion for the pre-employment card program, and extend electricity subsidies for households consuming 450-900 volt-ampere (VA) of power by another three months until December, 2021, Pandjaitan informed.

"(We) will also extend the internet quota subsidy for students, university students, teachers, and lecturers and subsidy for base electricity tariffs by another six months until December 2021," he said.

The government will also raise the budget allocation for the health sector to Rp13.21 trillion to cover the medical treatment of COVID-19 patients, provision of incentives to vaccinators, construction of field hospitals, purchase of oxygen, and distribution of 2 million packages of free COVID-19 drugs, among other things//ANT