Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who is also head of theNational Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, chaired ameeting in Hanoi on September 24 to review the fight against the pandemic.
As of the same day, Vietnam went through 22 consecutive days without anyCOVID-19 case in the community. Among 1,069 infections, 412 are imported andthe remaining are locally transmitted. There were 35 deaths from the virus,mostly of them suffered serious underlying diseases. As many as 989 patientshave been discharged from hospitals while 41 others are under treatment atmedical establishments.
Pandemic hotbeds have beenbasically controlled but the risk remains, especially in major urban areas andthose with dense populations.
Head of the Health Ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine Dang Quang Tanwarned that in the near future, new infections from previous hotbeds or moreimported cases could be discovered as several international flights will beresumed.
The ministry proposedstepping up research, production and supply of COVID-19 vaccine as well asaccess vaccine supply in the world, he said.
Members of the committee said illegal or legal immigrants failing to followprevention and control measures are at high risk of spreading virus in thecommunity. They cited international experts' comments that alert should begiven to community hotbeds and imported goods.
According to experts, the fight against the pandemic will become harder as the winteris coming near. Moreover, residents have failed to keep vigilant as not anylocal infection has been found for more than three weeks.
At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Son requestedclarifying responsibility of local authorities for quarantine, which he said,remains loose in hotels and lack of supervision.
The committee assigned the Health Ministry to issue a check list of must-doactions to grassroots-level units while the Ministry of Education and Trainingmust require schools to follow the check-list to ensure safety, thus raisingpublic awareness of the effort.
Hospitals were also asked to step up health-check registration online./.
