Deputy PM: Vietnam in good control of COVID-19

At a meeting in Hanoi on Monday (Mar 23), the senior government official made the statement while reporting to the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on the current epidemic situation and Vietnam's responsive plans.

According to Dam, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the epidemic is progressing in a complex manner around the globe. In Vietnam, under the direction of the Secretariat and the Prime Minister, since its first outbreak, the Ministry of Health has identified specific objectives, including preventing and controlling its spread, while harmonising counter-epidemic requirements with its external relations and socio-economic development activities.

Thanks to its various active responsive measures, which have focused on early detection and isolation to stamp out outbreaks, Vietnam’s efforts in controlling the epidemic in the early stage were assessed successful with all 16 out of 16 confirmed cases having recovered. Vietnam’s experiences with its epidemic control at this initial stage were recognised and recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to other countries to follow.

However, in the second stage, when the epidemic has spread to Europe and increased in complexity, experts forecasted that Vietnam would record from 600 to 4,000 infection cases and 40 to 160 deaths, Deputy PM Dam warned.

"There are still a lot of difficulties and risks ahead, requiring our anti-epidemic work to be done synchronously and drastically and to have solutions suitable to the risk the disease presents in terms of spreading in the community," he said.

Praising the drastic solutions that the Government has taken to prevent and control the disease, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also stated that Vietnam is actively controlling COVID-19 to limit the spread of disease.

The top legislator proposed authorities at all levels continue to thoroughly implement measures set by the Government, especially in the screening of those at risk of infection and to isolate them stringently.

She also called on all people to become “soldiers” and to actively participate in the disease prevention work so that Vietnam will soon win the fight against COVID-19 and restore normal socio-economic activities.

Transport robot put into use in isolation camps

After just 10 days of research, an inventive team from the University of Science and Technology under the University of Da Nang successfully developed a robot for transporting food and necessities in the COVID-19 prevention isolation zones. The VND50 million robot was transferred to the Da Nang Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital on Monday morning.

According to Assoc. Prof., Dr. Doan Quang Vinh, Rector of Da Nang University of Science and Technology, the stainless steel robot is controlled simply and can carry a maximum load of up to 100kg. Besides transporting food and necessities, it is possible to monitor and observe isolated subjects, helping limit direct contact between medical staff and patients, thus ensuring safety and the avoidance of cross-contamination. In addition, the robot also has additional cameras and speakers so doctors can observe the patients’ condition and communicate with them.

The development team is studying to add more features to the robot such as the measurement of body temperature, before putting it into mass production for orders from hospitals nationwide.

100 field hand-washing stations to be installed nationwide

On March 23, the first free hand-washing station among the planned total of 100 nationwide was placed at the King Ly Thai To statue park in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, as part of the anti-COVID-19 programme “For a healthy Vietnam”.

Under the plan, people are encouraged to join the hand-washing dance “Ghen Co Vy” (Jealous Coronavirus) – which has been praised by the US magazine Billboard and on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”, an American late-night talk and news satire television programme.

The aim is to build 100 free hand-washing stations in public places such as bus stations and tourist sites nationwide. On Monday morning, as many as 20 hand-washing stations were installed in crowded places in Hanoi. Each could serve over 1,000 people per day.

On this occasion, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee handed over VND383 million (US$16,476) to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee in support of the anti-coronavirus effort. The Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation also presented medical supplies to the Hanoi Capital High Command to support epidemic prevention and assist the work effort in isolation camps.