On Monday, troops were sent to the streets of Ho Chi Minh City to assist in enforcing a severe lockdown in the country’s largest city, which is also the epicenter of the country’s deadliest coronavirus epidemic to date.

Vietnam has documented a total of 348,000 illnesses and at least 8,277 deaths after successfully containing COVID-19 for much of the year.

The majority of the cases have been reported in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighboring industrial regions, where the Delta strain of the virus has been causing epidemics since late April.

Vietnam implemented movement restrictions in Ho Chi Minh City in early July, but announced its harshest curbs yet last week, as infections have continued to surge. Authorities have said the enforcement of recent curbs had not been sufficiently strict.

The government said on Friday a tighter lockdown would begin on Monday, prohibiting people from leaving their homes, even for food, and said the military would step in to help.

The announcement, which was later amended so that people in some areas could still shop for food but then subsequently reverted to a total ban, triggered confusion and panic-buying at supermarkets in the city over the weekend.

Witnesses said soldiers were delivering food to residents of the city on Monday and images broadcast by state media showed armed soldiers manning checkpoints and checking documents.

Ho Chi Minh City has recorded a total of 176,000 COVID-19 infections and 6,670 deaths, accounting for half of Vietnam’s overall cases and 80% of fatalities, according to the health ministry.