Military ready to fight nCoV

At a meeting on February 6 of the Defence Ministry’s steering committee for nCoV prevention and control, the deputy minister, who is also head of the steering committee, noted that within only a short time, the military has prepared more than 100 facilities and train personnel to get ready for the quarantine of people returning from China.

He said the Government recognizes the military’s role in epidemic preventive work and countering false information on the epidemic.

The deputy minister stressed that the military should consider nCoV prevention an important combat mission, urging all units to involve in the work.

He instructed the border guard force to coordinate with relevant forces to ensure the strict management of border gates, border crossings and local trails. The Military Medical Department was asked to guide military zones in working with local administrations to mobilize locally-available resources for epidemic prevention work.

The military should intensify communication work to provide the public with full, accurate and objective information on the epidemic situation, he said.

Deputy Minister Don expressed his approval of the Military Medical Department’s proposals regarding plans to ensure supplies of medical materials, equipment and chemical for epidemic prevention, encouragement of research on nCoV and more investment in preventive medicine. The department also asked the national steering committee for epidemic prevention and control to allow a number of military hospitals to conduct nCoV tests, thus taking the initiative in diagnosing nCoV infections in the military and reducing pressure on civilian medical facilities.

So far there has been no nCoV infection case in the military.

Head of the Military Medical Department Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien reported that as of February 6 morning, all military units had set up their own steering boards on epidemic prevention. The Defence Ministry has designed plans to receive and quarantine Vietnamese nationals returning from China and other countries. Mobile military medical teams have been ready for any situation, along with seven field hospitals run by the Military Medical University, military zones’ logistics departments and the General Department of Logistics.