Vietnam's plan to prohibit residents of Ho Chi Minh City from leaving their homes from Monday has triggered panic buying in the epicentre of its worst coronavirus outbreak.

The scramble for purchases is hurting efforts in the nation's largest city to contain the spiralling Covid-19 outbreak, said the official Vietnam News Agency.

Long queues of people were seen outside markets and shelves at supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City were emptying, witnesses and state media said.

“It's looking chaotic,” said a person who gave her name only as Nguyen in the city's District 2.

“Too many people are rushing out to buy food and essential stuff for their hard days ahead,” she told Reuters. “I have managed to by some food, as I don't want to die from hunger before dying from coronavirus.”