HCM City asked to take measures to minimise locals’ movement

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has issued a dispatch requiring intensified efforts to better COVID-19 prevention and control amidst complex developments of the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam’s largest economic hub.

The Government leader asked chairpersons of the People’s Committees of centrally-run cities and provinces, Ministers and heads of ministry-level agencies and Government agencies to strictly follow directions of the Party Central Committee’s Politburo and Secretariat, the Government, the Prime Minister, and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control as well as guidance and regulations of the Health Ministry.

It is a must to seriously carry out measures to prevent, detect and zone off new outbreaks, conduct effective quarantine and provide active treatment, he said, requiring the supply of food, food stuffs and necessities for people in quarantine sites and locked-down areas.

The PM also asked for the application of mandatory prevention and control measures for all people coming from pandemic-hit areas. The Ministry of Health is urged to regularly update the list of pandemic-hit areas on its e-portal.

For Ho Chi Minh City, while the whole city has not been considered a pandemic-hit area, people coming from or going through areas that have not been declared as pandemic-hit ones must make compulsory medical declarations. The local authorities of where they go must monitor them, conduct epidemiological investigations and make decisions on quarantine, testing and health monitoring in accordance with the results of the investigations.

The Prime Minister requested the municipal People’s Committee to strengthen directions for stronger and more radical measures to soon cut off the infection chains and control outbreaks.

Locals were required to avoid large gatherings and follow distancing regulations.

The Government leader also urged the city to immediately complete necessary work on legal affairs and communications to minimise the movement of people./.