Community chips in to tackle COVID-19

HÀ NỘI — Organisations and individuals across the country have been working together to do their parts in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hải Phòng was the first locality in the country to set up six 24-hour medical supervision stations at all the city’s gateways on March 25.

In the past week, staff at these stations have been working day and night, whatever the weather.

Station No 1 has been set up at the Highway No 5 toll booth in An Dương District. Thousands of containers pass the highway every day from Hải Phòng City to different provinces and cities across the country, so work at the station is intensive.

Police and transport inspectors give guidance to vehicles while medical workers and soldiers check people’s temperatures and their medical declarations. They have no time for a break during their shifts, which last six hours.

As well as the hard work, staff need to deal with a variety of problems as they arise.

Nguyễn Thị Anh, a medical worker at Station No 1, said she had two children, one in ninth grade and the other in second grade.

She and her husband are both on duty, so their children have to look after themselves.

If any person with a high temperature passes through the station, Anh must go into quarantine to protect her family and the community.

And there are more problems.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Quang Hồng, head of Station No 1, often has to spend a lot of time explaining to people why they have to stop their vehicles for checks.

They use a number of excuses to avoid stopping and save time, such as saying they are on a charity trip.

Hồng always keeps calm, explaining the situation to people until they agree to follow the regulations.

So far Hải Phòng has had no positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 thanks to instructions from municipal leaders and the thousands of people who take turns at the supervision stations as well as in villages, wards and districts.

Donation

The Bình Minh Commune People’s Committee in Khoái Châu District, the northern province of Hưng Yên on April 2 launched a donation campaign for COVID-19 prevention and control.

Nguyễn Thị Báu, 87, from Đa Hòa Village, was praised for donating all of her allowance to the fund.

Báu donated VNĐ10 million (US$430) saying that she was that old but not healthy enough to directly join in the fight with the pandemic, so she contributed the money as her part to help eliminate the disease.

Báu’s husband passed away 10 days ago. All of her seven children live far away. She had been saving that money for many years.

Together with Báu, nine other residents in the commune contributed VNĐ57 million ($2,400) and 1,000 face masks.

In the northern province of Hải Dương, the Hải Dương City Fatherland Front Committee on April 3 only received more than VNĐ250 million ($10,800) from organisations and individuals for pandemic control work.

Phạm Nguyễn Mai An, a third grader at Võ Thị Sáu Primary School, donated VNĐ400,000 ($17) from her savings. Venerable Thích Thanh Cường, head of the Cương Xá Pagoda, said that the pagoda donated VNĐ200 million ($8,600), face masks and sterilising solution.

Nguyễn Quang Phúc, chairman of the Hải Dương Province Fatherland Front, said the province had received more than VNĐ1.5 billion ($65,200) in donations from local organisations and individuals.

The committee pledged to use the funds effectively to prevent and control COVID-19, he said. — VNS