Speaking at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on November 13, Long requested ministries, sectors and localities to review, update and develop their anti-pandemic scenarios in preparation for a tougher situation over the coming winter.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is going to issue the “entry, health monitoring and quarantine processes for people entering on commercial flights”, he said, adding that negotiations are being accelerated with vaccine providers in the world, while efforts to domestically research and produce vaccines are also being carried forward.
At the meeting, Director of the Military Medical Department (Ministry of National Defence) Nguyen Xuan Kien emphasised the task of holding disease prevention and control exercises to remain ready for every possible situation. Regarding this issue, Long said the ministry will devise COVID-19 scenarios to help ministries, sectors and localities develop exercise plans.
Currently, about 13,000 schools and 1,530 hospitals nationwide have updated their information on the “co-living safely with COVID-19” map (www.antoancovid.vn). The Steering Committee asked the MOH to direct all medical facilities, especially private clinics, to check their disease prevention and control conditions and update information on the map, with November 16 set as the deadline for all hotels and accommodation establishments to complete the move.
Experts proposed accelerating vaccine research and production cooperation, accessing supply sources in the world, and strictly monitoring people entering the country.
The Steering Committee requested that, next week, the Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinate with the MOH to promulgate a set of criteria for ensuring epidemic safety in factories, manufacturing facilities, supermarkets and trade centres, and to update the information on the pandemic prevention and control map.
So far, Vietnam has recorded 1,253 COVID-19 cases, 596 of those having been imported. The country has gone 72 straight days without detecting a new infection in the community.
