The decision came after the province had basically brought the outbreak under control after more than two months since it recorded the first community transmission during the ongoing wave on July 2.

 

Starting 5 p.m. Tuesday, restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, and roadside eateries can serve customers without exceeding half their covers while accommodation facilities from two-star or above have to ensure pandemic prevention measures like having no more than two people per room.

 

Provincial authorities also allowed barber shops and beauty salons to resume operation but not exceed half their covers.

 

Since July, Lam Dong authorities closed all tourist attractions and accommodation as a pandemic prevention measure. Since the fourth coronavirus wave began in late April, Lam Dong has recorded 259 infections.

 

Da Lat in the Central Highlands is popular for its year-round cool climate, green pine forests, misty landscapes, and architectural gems from the colonial era.

 

It received seven million tourists in 2019.

 

Since Monday, Hoi An, a popular tourism hotspot in central Vietnam, also allowed restaurants and coffee shops to resume operation with strict restrictions after the town went a month without new Covid-19 cases.

 

By Hoang Phong