On August 13, delegates gathered at a teleconference chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, discussing epidemic prevention and control work amid the current social distancing order under Directive 16/CT-TTg applied in 19 provinces and cities in the southern region and some other localities across the country.
At the meeting, members of the Steering Committee focused on discussing the lessons learned from anti-epidemic practices across the country, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities in the South, in order to develop effective response scenarios in the near future.
They argued that social distancing must be strictly and substantively implemented, along with firmly protecting “green zones”, surrounding and narrowing high-risk areas (orange and red areas).
As outbreaks continue appearing in various localities across the country, it is necessary for local authorities to strictly detect entries from other localities to timely monitor and strictly handle cases who did not carry out medical declarations.
Localities were asked to immediately set up a system of hotlines and community health teams to go to each residential area to provide on-site medical support for all people with suspected symptoms as well as other health problems.
At the meeting, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that in the coming time, the Ministry of Health will focus on organising and urging the implementation of Resolution No. 86/NQ-CP dated August 6, 2021 on urgent solutions to prevent and combat the epidemic, while conducting risk assessment and forecasting at four levels (very high, high, mediate risk and new normal) in order for each locality to have appropriate solutions for testing, isolation, blockade and vaccination suitable to actual conditions.
The relevant forces will continue to concentrate on encircling and narrowing red zones, expanding the green zones, quickly separating infections (F0s) from the community, limiting the number of F0s from rapidly increasing, and minimising deaths to return to the new normal state as soon as possible.
On the same day, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Chu Ngoc Anh, inspected the epidemic prevention and control work in Dong Da district, during which he hailed Dong Da for effective disease prevention and control despite being a high risk area with a large population and a high concentration of major hospitals, schools and offices.
Collecting samples for COVID-19 testing in Hanoi. (Photo: NDO)
Notably, the district has organised eight rounds of vaccination against COVID-19, with more than 55,530 doses, reaching the assigned target, while taking more than 50,000 samples for testing in red and orange areas.
Anh directed the local units to speed up the testing progress and return the results with the most accuracy and in the fastest manner possible, while boosting vaccination with absolute safety ensured.
According to the Hanoi Department of Health, the capital city recorded only two new infection cases from 6 pm on August 13 to 6 am on August 14, both in already isolated areas. So far, during the fourth infection wave (from April 27, 2021), 2,128 cases, of which 1,178 were recorded in the community, have been detected in Hanoi.
On August 13, Ho Chi Minh City implemented vaccinations using Sinopharm's Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine for social protection beneficiaries and local people, on a voluntary basis.
The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City has proposed to vaccinate the remaining 20,000 cases at social protection centres and drug addiction treatment facilities across the city.
On the day, the city’s Centre for Disease Control (HCDC) issued 44,000 doses of the Vero Cell vaccine to local districts and Thu Duc city to develop appropriate injection plans.
In Ho Chi Minh City, medical units have injected 19,000 doses of the Vero Cell vaccine, allocated from 500,000 previously donated doses.
