About 23 million Vietnamese students have started a new school year, most of them in virtual classrooms, amidst a COVID-19 lockdown to contain a virus surge in the country.

Since April, when the latest wave of the virus spread in the country, Vietnam closed down schools and education institutes in pandemic areas and move learning activities to online platforms.

Millions of students spent their summer break at home as more than half of the country is in lockdown. In hard-hit provinces, schools have been converted into quarantine facilities and field hospitals.

In Ho Chi Minh city, the epicentre of Vietnam's worst virus outbreak, teachers and students observed a minute of silence to pay tribute to those who died of COVID-19 and honour front-liners before opening classes Monday.

In this latest wave, Vietnam has reported 5,20,000 confirmed cases with over 13,000 deaths. Ho Chi Minh city, a metropolis of 10 million population, accounts for most of the toll.