HANOI • Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City business hub will begin social distancing measures for 15 days starting today to curb the spread of Covid-19, the country's government said yesterday.

The city has seen a spike in cases related to a religious mission that has recorded at least 125 positive cases, accounting for most of the city's infections, according to a government statement.

"All events that gather more than 10 people in public are banned citywide, but the city is considering lowering the number of people to just five," the government said.

Go Vap district, where the Revival Ekklesia Mission is located, will be under full restrictions, and people there will not be allowed to go out unnecessarily.

On Friday, Ho Chi Minh City shut down shops, restaurants and other services, and suspended religious activities until further notice. People aged 60 or older are encouraged to stay home.

Vietnam reported 52 new Covid-19 cases from 6pm local time on Saturday to 6am yesterday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 6,908, according to the Ministry of Health.

Nationwide, as many as 2,896 patients have so far recovered.

As at yesterday morning, Vietnam recorded a total of 5,406 domestically transmitted cases, including 3,836 detected since the start of the latest outbreak in late April.

REUTERS, XINHUA