The cabinet leader chaired a teleconference on August 7 between the Government and the relevant ministries, agencies and localities to discuss measures in dealing with COVID-19.
Speaking at the event, PM Phuc emphasised Vietnam is at the beginning of a peak of the second wave of COVID-19 in the country, with the number of infected, deaths, and localities with infection cases increasing.
However, the senior leader urged calm and adherence to the guidance from the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control in order to make better and more timely solutions, while mobilising and efficiently using all resources in the fight against COVID-19, especially in the hotbeds of Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province.
Urging great determination and vigilance from the relevant localities and agencies, PM Phuc also stressed the need to seek better devices and means to popularise information on COVID-19 fight to the people, helping the public be alert and strictly implement preventive measures, in addition to applying technology to achieve higher efficiency.
The PM also requested ensuring the safety and best organisation of the upcoming national high school graduation exams, avoiding the infection of candidates, their family members and teachers.
He said that experiences from Da Nang and other localities showed that immediate tracing, testing and isolating is effective in firmly stamping out the epidemic, preventing it from spreading to a larger scale.
The leader asked for proper management and quarantine of returnees from Da Nang, as well as strict medical control and medical declarations in hospitals and industrial parks, and making face mask wearing mandatory in public places, big cities and epidemic-hit areas.
He also requested the increase in production of ventilators and medical masks to offer to key provinces and cities, while preparing to set up field hospitals in localities such as Da Nang, Quang Nam and populous cities at risk of infection spreading.
In order to quickly trace suspected infections and prevent the epidemic from spreading, PM Phuc suggested every Vietnamese person with a smartphone install Bluezone – a Vietnamese-developed mobile app capable of alerting users if they had close contact with people who have COVID-19.
He also asked for strengthened communication to raise public awareness on disease prevention. The media was urged to broadcast more preventive measures in various forms.
An effective and sustainable COVID-19 strategy must be based on the continual maintenance of economic activity with close attention paid to epidemic prevention, PM Phuc affirmed, adding that social distancing should be implemented in a serious and timely manner in pandemic-hit areas but should not be carried out simultaneously in localities and regions that have not detected new infections so as to not disrupt the economy.
Stressing that the whole country is ready and abundant reserves exist to serve the people during any social distancing, PM Phuc also asked Da Nang, Quang Nam, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and other key localities to consider keeping reserves and guarding the supply of food in case the epidemic lasts longer than expected.
The chairpersons of the People’s Committees of provinces and cities, based on epidemic developments, were asked to decide the level of risk and apply appropriate anti-epidemic measures in their locales to resolutely minimise negative impacts on business and production activities, as well as people’s lives.
Source: Nhan Dan Online
