Ministry of Health issues new criteria for pandemic control

Localities will be considered to have pandemic under control when the number of new cases in the community decreases continuously compared to the previous two weeks and decrease by at least 50 percent compared to the week that recorded highest infections during the pandemic.

The rate of positive samples tested by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method during the day in the community also needs to decrease within 14 days.

Additionally, the locality will be deemed to have COVID-19 under control when no new clusters of infections are recorded over seven days.

Under the new criteria, provinces also need to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the risk of infection and an increase of at least 30 percent of districts and communes that return to the "new normal" state.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the risk of infection needs to be reduced by 30 percent.

In the fourth wave, four southern provinces and cities which record highest infections are Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Long An and Dong Nai.