Nearly 2.5 million workers at 19 Southern localities cease working due to COVID-19

The information was released by the special working group on COVID-19 prevention and control under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

As of August 28, more than 79,000 firms withdrew from market because of impacts of COVID-19, a year-on-year increase of 25.5 percent.

Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of the nation’s fourth coronavirus wave, witnessed over 23,000 businesses having to stop operation, the highest number recorded during 2016-2020 period, up 14.8 percent against the same period last year and accounting for 29.1 percent of the total figure in the nation.

According to the special working group, Southern localities are home to 195 industrial parks and one high-tech park, creating 2.3 million jobs. In addition, the region houses 97 industrial clusters with 113,000 laborers. At present, nearly half of these businesses have to stop operation due to COVID-19 or lack of production materials or facing difficulties in circulation of commodities.

In Ho Chi Minh City, only 1,700 enterprises are operating with 50 percent of their capacity during social distancing period.

In Binh Duong Province, the second biggest coronavirus hotspot of Viet Nam, more than 1,800 firms located at industrial parks, 65 enterprises at industrial clusters and 2,000 businesses outside industrial parks have remained "three-on-spot" operation - which means production, meals, and rest after work at the same place.

By Thuy Dung