COVID-19 fight: Lessons on mobilising people’s strengths retain intact value

Health workers guide people to take specimens for COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long pointed out nine lessons learnt after the one-month fight against COVID-19.

He said that the outbreaks in the central Da Nang city and Quang Nam province have been brought under control, as new cases were on the decline in recent weeks.

At a meeting of permanent cabinet members held on August 21, Long forecast that new locally-transmitted infections may still emerge in the two localities in the coming days, as they spread before the launch of preventive measures.

Meanwhile, the outbreak at house No.36 on Ngo Quyen street in northern Hai Duong province, where 12 cases were confirmed, has been controlled. Contact tracing, quarantine and testing are still underway to put an end to the spread of the pandemic in the locality.

Other outbreaks nationwide were promptly detected and preventive measures were carried out at once.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Health (MoH) unveiled lessons learnt from cases in Da Nang, Quang Nam and Hai Duong.

First of all, the Government, the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and agencies at all levels paid due attention to prevention efforts.

That Vietnam has identified high-risk areas and people in a quick and accurate manner helped to save national resources, Long noted.

Particularly, three hospitals in Da Nang were viewed as the pandemic epicentres from the beginning while the whole city was the outbreak itself.

Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long speaks at the meeting of permanent cabinet members on August 21 (Photo: VNA)

In addition, local authorities spared no efforts in conducting social distancing and choosing areas for lockdown or quarantine.

Regarding the situations in Hai Duong, Long affirmed that preventive measures were applied concertedly among localities, which helped curb the spread of COVID-19.

The health sector was able to mobilise an “unprecedented” large number of medical workers, including leading experts, physicians and medical students. They worked together to battle the pandemic in Da Nang and Quang Nam.

On August 21, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son, head of the ministry’s special force in the central city returned to Hanoi after three weeks. Members of the delegation had gone into quarantine before coming back to work.

The MoH, under the direct order of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, set up a special force in Da Nang, which teamed up with local authorities in tackling the pandemic and provided them with guidance in the distribution of human resources and medical equipment.

The lessons on mobilising people’s strengths retained intact value, especially in fighting against the pandemic, the Acting Health Minister affirmed, adding that it was among most important factors in the fight.

Vietnam’s testing capacity also surged in the period while contact tracing and quarantine of people having close contact with COVID-19 patients, referred as F1, were quickly carried out.

From the start, the MoH stayed consistent with the idea to send F1 people into quarantine, keeping the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 from spreading in the community.

Testing capacity was raised in a short amount of time, as the health sector now can meet testing demand even if COVID-19 cases surge.

Meanwhile, economic development activities need to be maintained, along with border control and citizen protection.

The preparation of medical devices, face masks and protective equipment was also enhanced compared to the previous time.

Long said that all sectors have quickly and synchronously launched preventive measures this time.

Vietnam is projected to bring the situation under control within one month, given that it took Hai Duong 10 days to do so thanks to drastic and prompt measures. The faster the action, the less severe consequences, Long stressed./.