Vietnam, which has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic better than most countries, is experiencing a new spate of COVID-19 in its southern region, with the country’s business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of the ongoing outbreak. More than 13,500 of the city’s residents have contracted COVID-19 since 27 April, and in response, the city’s government recently imposed a strict lockdown for two weeks beginning on 9 July.
Provinces in the Mekong Delta, which have close business connections with Ho Chi Minh City, have imposed heightened safety measures to prevent the outbreak from spreading further. Long An Province, a transit point between Ho Chi Minh City and other Mekong Delta provinces, temporarily suspended operations of all businesses in the province from 12 July, following the discovery that the outbreak had penetrated into many of its industrial parks and residential areas. And on 8 July authorities in Tien Giang and Dong Thap, two major seafood producing provinces in Mekong Delta, halted all container trucks and lorries from Ho Chi Minh City at their entry gates. All the drivers were requested to show a negative result of a COVID-19 RT-PCR test from within the previous three days, before being allowed to enter the provinces.
The clampdown came as a surprise to the region’s seafood companies, with most unprepared for the logistical challenge of conducting the testing. As a result, their drivers have had return to Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces to have the tests done. But complicating their efforts is a lack of medical facilities in the region that are providing the tests, and test results are taking an additional 24 to 48 hours to be processed.
The delays are affecting the flow of seafood products from the Mekong Delta, which typically travel through Ho Chi Minh City for export.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on 12 July, the move by Tien Giang and Dong Thap to require testing has severely disrupted the country’s seafood trade, another blow to local seafood companies, which have already been reeling from a marked increase in freight rates and a shipping container shortage.
Minh Phu Seafood, one of the country’s top shrimp producers and exporters, said the disruptions have resulted in a lack of vehicles for transporting shrimp feed to farms and to bring harvested shrimp to processing factories, Minh Phu CEO Le Van Quang said.
VASEP has proposed the provinces begin accepting rapid COVID-19 tests instead of RT-PCR tests to address the issue.
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