The move came after the Viet Nam Social Security issued Document No 396/BHXH-TCKT, sending it to the Viet Nam Post Corporation and authorities of the 13 pandemic-hit provinces and cities.

The provinces and cities are Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Gia Lai, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hoa Binh, Ha Giang, Dien Bien, Binh Duong and Hung Yen.

The document said the pandemic had re-appeared in the community recently, therefore, the social agency ordered the post corporation and the authorities of 13 provinces and cities to pay the pension and social insurance allowance of March and April for beneficiaries at one time to ensure safety.

Branches of the social agency in the 13 provinces and cities were told to co-operate with local authorised agencies to take measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic at locations used for paying the pensions of retired people and the social insurance allowance for the beneficiaries following the 5K (in Vietnamese) message: Khẩu trang (facemask) – Khử khuẩn (disinfection) – Khoảng cách (keep distance) – Không tụ tập (avoid gatherings) – Khai báo y tế (health declaration), the document said.

Under the document, for locked-down localities, the branches had to make plans to pay the pension and the social insurance allowance for beneficiaries at home.

The branches were ordered to coordinate with local authorities to create favourable conditions for the payment and ensure safety for the beneficiaries.

They were also required to work with media outlets to inform people of the plan to pay the pension and the social insurance allowance during the COVID-19 pandemic following the Government’s direction.

Illustrative image (source: Internet)

It should inform people of the correct time and location of the payment for beneficiaries.

All people, including beneficiaries and staff of the branches, had to correctly wear facemasks and wash their hands with hand sanitiser.

Every staff member in charge of paying the pension and the social insurance allowance were ordered to make health declarations.

All places that were set up for the payment had to be sprayed with disinfectant and have enough facemasks and hand sanitiser for the beneficiaries before the payment was made.

The branches were told to allocate enough staff to deal with the payment more quickly, reducing the waiting time of the beneficiaries and avoiding gatherings of too many people according to Directive No 05/CT-TTg and Notice No 28/ TB-VPCP.

Moreover, the branches needed to encourage the beneficiaries to receive pension and social insurance allowance through their personal accounts under Decision No 241/QD-TTg dated February 23, 2018 of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on promoting payment via banks for public services such as taxes, electricity, water, tuition, hospital fees and payment of social security programmes./.