A view of HCM City (Photo: VNA) According to the city Department of Health, as of September26 morning, 9.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been injected, with 6.8million people, or 94.5 percent of local residents over 18 years old receivingthe first shots and 2.6 million others getting full two shots.
Meanwhile, the ratio of new infections in red and orangezones detected through mass testing has declined from 3.7 percent to 1.1percent after six testing drives. In the seventh testing drive from September20, the ratio was 0.3 percent.
Defining health care strategy as one of key factor for there-opening plan, Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Vice Director of the city HealthDepartment said after vaccination reaches full coverage, the city will focus onmanaging COVID-19 patients in the community, while strengthening the treatment system,and conducting testing on high-risk groups.
Currently, HCM City has 90 COVID-19 treatment facilities,with 3,280 beds for critical patients, he said.
At the same time, the city is building 11 strategies for the‘new normal’ period, including those on health care, social welfare, andbusiness production.
Secretary of the city Party Committee Nguyen Van Nenaffirmed that it’s time for the city to make necessary preparations for living safelywith the virus.
“Green card” has been piloted in a number of localitieshosting a large number of businesses, including District 7, Cu Chi and Can Giodistrict, as well as export processing zones and the High-Tech Park sinceSeptember 16.
Lam Dinh Thang, Director of the municipal Department ofInformation and Communications said that the COVID-19 “green card” is a tool tomanage people meeting all safety criteria against COVID-19, which is part ofthe city’s plan on partly opening and a suitable step towards the new normalsituation after September 30.
Currently, the city Steering Committee for COVID-19Prevention and Control has issued 15 sets of safety criteria for seven sectorsin preparation for reopening. People who want to engage in production,business, travel, shopping and social activities must hold the COVID-19 “greencard”.
The city Department of Transport has also designed a plan toreceive labourers from other localities, while a number of major wholesale marketsin District 7 and Cu Chi and Can Gio district have opened again, work at manyconstruction sites have resumed and tens of thousands of shippers have returnedto work, showing that life in the city is generally returning to “the new normal”./.
VNA
