>>> Over 966,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed nationwide
>>> COVID-19: 220 new cases raise tally to 12,014
>>> Ho Chi Minh City to receive nearly 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by Japan
The southern economic hub had recorded more than 1,000 community-transmitted cases, making it the third biggest COVID hotspot in the country’s fourth wave.
According to Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son, Head of the Special Task Force of the Ministry of Health to support the fight against COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City, in the face of widespread infection, the number of centralised isolation camps is not enough to meet the demand. To minimise the risk of cross-infection in the concentrated isolation areas, Son suggested that it is possible to pilot a plan to isolate close contacts of COVID-19 infections at home in Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh City has also developed a scenario to deal with over 5,000 infected cases. The local health sector has prepared 2,500 beds in eight hospitals, which could be increased to 3,500 beds in the near future. If the number of cases continues to increase beyond the scenario of 5,000 cases, the Phu Tho Gymnasium in District 11 will be turned into a field hospital.
Ho Chi Minh City is continuing to apply strict social distance order for additional 14 days from June 14. Son said that if the locality strictly implements the prevention and control measures during these two weeks, Ho Chi Minh City will be able to control the epidemic in the next 2-3 weeks.
Meanwhile, nearly a million doses of COVID-19 vaccine rushed from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on a flight operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines which took off at 7 am this morning. These are the batches of vaccines that Japan donated to support Vietnam on June 15. The vaccines arrived in Hanoi from Japan at 10 pm on June 16.
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Carrying out rapid COVID-19 testing for passengers at Noi Bai Airport. (Photo: Hanoi Department of Health)
The Hanoi Centre for Disease Control has deployed COVID-19 rapid testing for passengers from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi at Noi Bai Airport. This activity will be deployed continuously for a week to 10 days at the airport on about 1,000 samples. On June 16, 97 random samples were taken and all of them gave negative results. In addition to testing at the airport, the capital city will also organise testing in industrial zones and clusters.
Authorities of central Ha Tinh Province will close Cau Treo International Border Gate to Vietnamese citizens returning from Laos starting from June 18, in the wake of the increasingly complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a notice sent to the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos, the Ha Tinh People’s Committee asked the embassy to help it widely inform the Vietnamese community and relevant authorities in Laos about the closure, which will remain in effect until further notice.
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Vietnamese citizens repatriate at Cau Treo International Border Gate in Ha Tinh Province carry out the epidemic control process. (Photo: NDO/Ngo Tuan)
From May 31, Dak Lak Province has recorded no new infection cases, while two local COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Therefore, the People's Committee of Dak Lak Province decided to lift the blockade and social distancing order for some areas in Ea H'leo District, while continuing to strictly control those returning from epidemic hit localities to the province.
On the morning of June 17, Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai Province decided to isolate the Big C Dong Nai supermarket in Long Binh Tan Ward for 21 days, as the place was in relation to a new COVID-19 detected case. The time of zoning for isolation is from 5 am on June 17. The People's Committee of Bien Hoa City established five checkpoints, operating 24 hours a day at the entrance and exit gates of the supermarket.
