Participants at the meeting (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The spread of COVID-19 may have slowed in Vietnam but the country must remain on alert since it is stilltoo early to confirm that the pandemic has been contained, heard a meeting of the NationalSteering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Hanoi on April 8.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) reported at themeeting that, as at April 8, Vietnam had 251 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2,of whom 126 have fully recovered.
Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the MoH’s Departmentof Medical Examination and Treatment Management, said it is encouraging that thenumber of newly-confirmed cases each day is now lower than the number of those giventhe all-clear. Those who have made full recovery now account for more than halfof all cases.
Patients are treated according to an MoH regimenand piloted ones based on other countries’ experience, he said, noting that theministry is working to perfect the regimen so as to minimise severe cases and fatalities.
Participants shared the view that although Vietnamhas introduced strong measures, COVID-19 continues to spread in the community, asbefore midnight on March 22, when the entry of foreigners into the country was suspended,hundreds of thousands of people, including many from coronavirus-hit nations, hadalready entered Vietnam.
Of the 251 COVID-19 cases identified so far, 156,or 62.6 percent, stemmed from other countries.
Social distancing is being practiced nationwide underPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s Directive No. 16/TC-TTg, so transmission has slowed,but it is still early to say that the pandemic has been contained, according toTran Dac Phu, an adviser to Vietnam’s public health emergency operations center.
The country must continue measures such as quarantining,testing people having contact or links with confirmed cases, practicing social distancing,and detecting small hotspots early to prevent them from becoming larger.
Other participants at the meeting said Vietnam hasmanaged to control the pandemic but there will likely be many more cases. Therefore,aside from identifying sources of infection, it is necessary to consider each COVID-19case as a hotspot and respond swiftly./.
VNA
