Vietnam's biggest city to start lifting Covid-19 curbs to spur business

Ho Chi Minh has borne the brunt of Vietnam's coronavirus crisis, accounting for 80% of the country's fatalities and half of its nearly 780,000 cases. - AFP

HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam's commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City will start relaxing its coronavirus curbs from later on Thursday (Sept 30), officials said, allowing more business and social activities after four months of measures aimed at arresting a spiralling death rate.

Policies will seek to spur the economy and restore some normalcy while coexisting with the virus, which hit the country hard in recent months, with overall deaths jumping from 36 in mid May to more than 19,098 as of Wednesday.