Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The flexible and creative application of a strategy to prevent, detect,isolate, zone and control COVID-19 had played a decisive role in Vietnam’ssuccessful battle against the pandemic, experts have said.
"This has been an important strategy and contributed to the success ofdisease prevention and control," said Associate Professor Tran Nhu Duong, deputy head of the NationalInstitute of Hygiene and Epidemic, adding that the strategy had beenconsistently applied since the start of the pandemic.
“When a COVID-19 case is detected in the community, the first thing to do rightaway is to track all the people who have had contact with the patient andquarantine them.
“Those who have had close contact with the patient, known as F1, are people athigh risk of being infected and can become a source of infection in thecommunity,” he said at a recent national teleconference to review the fight against the pandemic.
Tracing F1s as soon as a case is detected is a key part of disease containmentbecause there is a very small window in which to track and quarantine contactsbefore they become infectious.
The incubation period between contact with the virus and start of symptomsmight be just 1-2 days or up to 14 days. Therefore, it was critical to traceand locate contacts as soon as possible before they could potentially infectothers, Duong said.
He also said that the identification of suspected cases should be based onepidemiological risk of infection.
Experience during the battle against COVID-19 in Da Nang showed that manypatients had travelled to different places, mainly Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam. Competent agencies collaborated with thoselocalities to track F1s.
“That approach has made tracing speedy and comprehensive. Without collaborationwith other COVID-19 response teams, it would take a team a few days or evenweeks to complete F1 tracing,” Duong said.
He said it was essential to be proactive and quickly make use of the"golden time" after a case is detected to take samples for testingand quarantine suspected cases to reduce the spread of the disease.
“All F1 cases must be isolated at centralised quarantined centres and not athome because any negligence from them could leave a loophole in the diseaseprevention system”, Duong said.
He cited Da Nang as a typical example.
The city's authorities mobilised resources to quarantine 11,621 F1 cases, and121 positive cases were detected among them.
Regarding the city's zoning strategy, every day epidemiological groups from theGovernment and locality analysed epidemiological data, and pointed outcomplicated epidemic outbreaks. Then they advised local authorities to promptlyzone off certain areas.
The city identified more than 60 hotspots and zoned them off during theone-month battle with the pandemic.
This strategy was flexible, easy to implement and helped to prevent thepandemic while ensuring social security, Duong said.
Sharing experience on disease prevention and control, Ngo Thi Kim Yen, Director of Da Nang'sHealth Department, said when the first community transmission cases ofcoronavirus were confirmed, the city mobilised all its forces to assess thethreat and implemented measures to deal with the disease.
On July 26, Da Nang Hospital was placed under lockdown and soon after that twoadjacent hospitals were closed.
Two days later, the city decided to impose social distancing to stop the spreadof the virus.
Thanks to the adoption of drastic measures, the disease was quickly controlled,she said.
No community infections had been detected in the city for the past 38 days, Yen said, adding that the cityhad applied the strategy of “prevent, detect, isolate, zone and control”.
The strategy also proved to be effective in HCM City.
Nguyen Tan Binh, Director of HCM City's HealthDepartment, said with the direction of the political system and a jointconsensus among local residents, the disease was basically under control.
The city has recorded no community cases for 63 days.
Binh attributed theresult to the implementation of anti-disease plans, especially closelymonitoring people coming from other countries, territories, cities andprovinces.
One of the main factors contributing to Vietnam’s success in the fight againstCOVID-19 was the mobilisation of the community, Duong said.
In the spirit of "fighting the pandemic like fighting the enemy",thousands of COVID-19 response teams were set up across the country.
Da Nang has 2,200 teams while Quang Nam has 5,500, and Quang Ngai and Quang Trihave 2,300 and 4,434, respectively.
These teams were tasked with supervising and disseminating information ondisease prevention and control for each household. They acted as a bridgeconnecting the Government, the health sector and the people.
“COVID-19 response teams within the community were part of the creative andunique response Vietnam adopted in the fight against the pandemic that fewplaces in the world could replicate. This is the most vivid demonstration ofpeople-based prevention, mobilising the entire population to stop the pandemic,” Duong said./.
"This has been an important strategy and contributed to the success ofdisease prevention and control," said Associate Professor Tran Nhu Duong, deputy head of the NationalInstitute of Hygiene and Epidemic, adding that the strategy had beenconsistently applied since the start of the pandemic.
“When a COVID-19 case is detected in the community, the first thing to do rightaway is to track all the people who have had contact with the patient andquarantine them.
“Those who have had close contact with the patient, known as F1, are people athigh risk of being infected and can become a source of infection in thecommunity,” he said at a recent national teleconference to review the fight against the pandemic.
Tracing F1s as soon as a case is detected is a key part of disease containmentbecause there is a very small window in which to track and quarantine contactsbefore they become infectious.
The incubation period between contact with the virus and start of symptomsmight be just 1-2 days or up to 14 days. Therefore, it was critical to traceand locate contacts as soon as possible before they could potentially infectothers, Duong said.
He also said that the identification of suspected cases should be based onepidemiological risk of infection.
Experience during the battle against COVID-19 in Da Nang showed that manypatients had travelled to different places, mainly Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam. Competent agencies collaborated with thoselocalities to track F1s.
“That approach has made tracing speedy and comprehensive. Without collaborationwith other COVID-19 response teams, it would take a team a few days or evenweeks to complete F1 tracing,” Duong said.
He said it was essential to be proactive and quickly make use of the"golden time" after a case is detected to take samples for testingand quarantine suspected cases to reduce the spread of the disease.
“All F1 cases must be isolated at centralised quarantined centres and not athome because any negligence from them could leave a loophole in the diseaseprevention system”, Duong said.
He cited Da Nang as a typical example.
The city's authorities mobilised resources to quarantine 11,621 F1 cases, and121 positive cases were detected among them.
Regarding the city's zoning strategy, every day epidemiological groups from theGovernment and locality analysed epidemiological data, and pointed outcomplicated epidemic outbreaks. Then they advised local authorities to promptlyzone off certain areas.
The city identified more than 60 hotspots and zoned them off during theone-month battle with the pandemic.
This strategy was flexible, easy to implement and helped to prevent thepandemic while ensuring social security, Duong said.
Sharing experience on disease prevention and control, Ngo Thi Kim Yen, Director of Da Nang'sHealth Department, said when the first community transmission cases ofcoronavirus were confirmed, the city mobilised all its forces to assess thethreat and implemented measures to deal with the disease.
On July 26, Da Nang Hospital was placed under lockdown and soon after that twoadjacent hospitals were closed.
Two days later, the city decided to impose social distancing to stop the spreadof the virus.
Thanks to the adoption of drastic measures, the disease was quickly controlled,she said.
No community infections had been detected in the city for the past 38 days, Yen said, adding that the cityhad applied the strategy of “prevent, detect, isolate, zone and control”.
The strategy also proved to be effective in HCM City.
Nguyen Tan Binh, Director of HCM City's HealthDepartment, said with the direction of the political system and a jointconsensus among local residents, the disease was basically under control.
The city has recorded no community cases for 63 days.
Binh attributed theresult to the implementation of anti-disease plans, especially closelymonitoring people coming from other countries, territories, cities andprovinces.
One of the main factors contributing to Vietnam’s success in the fight againstCOVID-19 was the mobilisation of the community, Duong said.
In the spirit of "fighting the pandemic like fighting the enemy",thousands of COVID-19 response teams were set up across the country.
Da Nang has 2,200 teams while Quang Nam has 5,500, and Quang Ngai and Quang Trihave 2,300 and 4,434, respectively.
These teams were tasked with supervising and disseminating information ondisease prevention and control for each household. They acted as a bridgeconnecting the Government, the health sector and the people.
“COVID-19 response teams within the community were part of the creative andunique response Vietnam adopted in the fight against the pandemic that fewplaces in the world could replicate. This is the most vivid demonstration ofpeople-based prevention, mobilising the entire population to stop the pandemic,” Duong said./.
VNA
