A scrap collector in the streets of HCMC. Photo by VnExpress / Nguyen Nga.
HCMC’s labor department offered to help 230,000 informal workers, including street vendors, porters and garbage collectors who lost their income due to the pandemic VND 345 billion ($ 15 million).
People eligible to receive assistance also include freight carriers, those who work in catering establishments, accommodation services, tourism and health establishments, those who work at sites that have had to be suspended in due to coronavirus-related restrictions such as places of entertainment, museums and parks.
Le Minh Tan, director of the municipal department of labor, invalids and social affairs, said on Tuesday that the proposal had been submitted to the municipal people’s committee. If approved, each person would receive around 1.5 million VND in July, from the national budget and the Covid-19 prevention fund.
Earlier, the department had also presented to the Municipal People’s Committee an aid program worth more than VND 1,000 billion for around 310,000 workers affected by the pandemic.
In the past two months, the latest wave of Covid in Vietnam has seen 10,575 infections recorded in 43 cities and provinces. The most affected are Bac Giang with 5,498 cases and HCMC with 2,013 cases.
HCMC entered social distancing on May 31 and suspended many non-essential activities and services to curb the spread of the pandemic.
