'We are tired': Workers flee Vietnam's largest city as long lockdown eases

People, mostly migrant workers who are planning to return to their hometowns, wait at a checkpoint to leave Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam October 1, 2021. Picture taken October 1, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

HANOI (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people, mostly migrant workers, left Ho Chi Minh City over the weekend as the largest metropolis in Vietnam eased a months-long COVID-19 lockdown https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnams-biggest-city-start-lifting-covid-19-curbs-revive-business-2021-09-30, triggering fears of labour shortages and more disruption to manufacturing.

The mass exodus comes as the city and its nearby industrial provinces struggle to ensure sufficient workers to help revive the country's economy, which posted a record GDP slump https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-posts-record-gdp-slump-q3-due-covid-19-curbs-2021-09-29 in the third quarter due to COVID-19 curbs.