Poor workers are now facing even more difficulties as HCM City is in social distancing period because of the latest Covid outbreak. Many are living on charity meals or having instant noodles.

The machines that sell mobile phones or collect used phones, and the apps that connect scrap sellers and buyers are useful solutions at a time when "living green" and "going digital" have become more common.

At a zero-dong shop, a mother found four sets of clothes for her two children within several minutes.

Hoang Tuan Anh, the creator of the ‘rice ATM’ which dispensed rice to the poor to help them survive the Covid-19 pandemic, is one of the 14 people nominated by VietNamNet as Inspiring Characters.

For the past month, a “rice ATM” has been automatically dispensing free rice 24/7 to people badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like in the midland or lowland regions, ‘Rice ATMs’ have also been set up in mountainous areas to share difficulties with local minority people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The National Economics University started distributing rice to people in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic on April 16.