Quang Ninh: Dong Trieu town put under social distancing order for 25 days

The order takes effect from midday on January 29 to midday on February 23.

People must stay at home and only go out when essential, such as buying food and medication, for emergency care, or for work at establishments providing essential goods and services.

People must keep a safe distance of 2 metres and gatherings of more than two people outside of offices, hospitals, and public places are banned.

The town’s Binh Duong commune, meanwhile, is in lockdown, with stricter preventive measures in place.

Binh Duong is among the four communes, joining Thuy Sinh, An Sinh, and Nguyen Hue, in Dong Trieu that are home to workers at the Hai Duong-based Vietnam Poyun Electronics Co., Ltd. who were recently found to be infected with COVID-19.

The provincial People’s Committee also requested medical authorities and public security and military forces mobilise personnel and facilities to set up checkpoints and establish more quarantine centres.

A quick response team has also been established to support the COVID-19 response in Dong Trieu.

* The Ministry of Transport has ordered the suspension of all passenger and cargo flights from/to Quang Ninh, where COVID-19 cases were recently detected in the community.

In addition, authorities of Quang Ninh and its neighbouring Hai Duong province are asked to decide on the halt, delay and adjustment of the frequency of intra- and inter-provincial passenger road transport in accordance with the real situation, except for official purposes and necessary cases.

The flow of private vehicles is also requested to be minimised, while the transportation of goods and materials must be maintained.

They are also ordered to re-schedule the frequency of waterway transport. Meanwhile, inter-provincial passenger trains will not stop at stations in the two provinces to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The order, however, does not apply to cargo transport trains.

The halt of flights and passenger trains to Quang Ninh started from 12 pm on January 28 until further notice.

* The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has set up a hotline, on 024 3872 7912, to address bottlenecks in the implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Aviation agencies nationwide have been urged to strictly observe the Prime Minister’s dispatch on COVID-19 prevention and control as well as measures to repel the spread of the pandemic.

Airport staff must wear face masks and wash their hands regularly. They are also asked to check passengers’ body temperature and disinfect devices and high-risk public areas at airports.

Meanwhile, passengers are required to closely follow health regulations before boarding the plane and during the flights, and keep their masks on the whole trip.

* The northern province of Bac Ninh has decided to impose social distancing in Lam Thao commune of Luong Tai district for 21 days, starting on January 29, after a local resident was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient.

The male patient, No 1,565 and born in 1990, had close contact with Patient 1,552, a resident of nearby Hai Duong province, as they worked in the same factory of Vietnam Poyun Electronics Co. Ltd in Hai Duong’s Chi Linh city. Contact tracing and quarantining activities are being promptly carried out in the province.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Ngo Tan Phuong, head of the Bac Ninh steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, has requested that Lam Thao residents only leave their homes when necessary like buying food and medicine, receiving emergency aid, or going to work, while not gathering in groups of more than two persons outside workplaces, schools, hospitals, and public places and keeping a distance of at least two metres when meeting each other.

All public passenger transport activities have also been halted in Binh Dinh, Quang Phu, Phu Luong, and Tan Lang communes and Thua township of Luong Tai district.

All schools across Bac Ninh were also closed for three days, starting on January 29, to serve contact tracing.

In addition, the province temporarily shut down all restaurants, karaoke parlours, and pubs as from 1pm of January 29. Authorities have also ordered suspension of festivals and recommended locals restrict travel, cultural, sports, and entertainment activities with mass gatherings.