Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (C) (Photo: VNA)

Addressing a meeting of permanent members of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Dam, who is head of the committee, said that all resources are being mobilised to stamp out the pandemic in the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh.

According to a report by the Ministry of Health (MoH), Vietnam has recorded 1,647 COVID-19 cases in 28 provinces and cities since April 27, including 605 in Bac Giang, 353 in Bac Ninh, and 256 in Hanoi. Most of the new cases had close contact with confirmed patients, and had been already quarantined or in locked-down areas.

Deputy Health Minister Tran Van Thuan said that people should strictly follow the MoH’s 5K message: khau trang (face mask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration), and take part in COVID-19 vaccinations.

Dam highlighted the importance to renew and strengthen discipline, and tighten management over the reception and quarantine of foreigners and Vietnamese citizens entering the country.

All quarantine facilities and hotels registered for quarantine must ensure required conditions, and form a system to manage from prices to pandemic prevention and control conditions, he noted.

The Deputy PM urged the Ministry of Health to issue guidelines for combining different testing methods for people entering Vietnam, firstly by air.

The classification after testing can define who is safe enough to be quarantined for only seven days at designated facilities, instead of 14 or 21 days, he stated, adding that it is important for trading and travel, including welcoming foreign experts and repatriating Vietnamese citizens stranded aboard due to the pandemic.

He requested the Ministry of Health to issue new guidelines within a week and immediately organise testing and medical quarantine management following the new process.

The permanent members of the steering committee also agreed to assign the military medicine force to undertake testing for people in military quarantine establishments and the health sector to test people in civil quarantine facilities and hotels./.

BTA