Allow the reopening of non-essential services; Lift social distancing in classrooms.

Stating that there have been no new community-acquired Covid-19 cases nationwide for the past 21 days, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the country is at a low risk level, which is encouraging. However, the pandemic situation in the world, Asia, and Southeast Asia remains complex.

The Prime Minister emphasized the message: Every citizen and every business must establish a new normal in their lives and socio-economic activities to gradually return to normalcy. Boosting economic recovery and national development is a top priority, requiring focus at all levels and in all sectors. However, complacency and underestimating the Covid-19 pandemic are also crucial.

Continue implementing measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Anyone returning from abroad must undergo 14 days of centralized quarantine, except for experts, skilled workers, and investors, who may be quarantined on-site. Absolutely no one entering the country should be allowed to spread the disease to the community. Be prepared to respond if there are positive cases in the community. Steering committees at all levels should maintain rapid response teams, forecast and collect data to quickly detect positive cases and close contacts, and promptly isolate, quarantine, and contain outbreaks.

Continue to enforce mandatory mask-wearing in public places and on crowded public transport, handwashing, and personal hygiene when in contact with others in crowded areas.

Agreeing with the proposals regarding education and training, the Prime Minister clarified that students are not required to wear masks in classrooms, but should maintain personal hygiene and wash their hands frequently. Windows and doors should be opened periodically to ensure ventilation. Schools should strengthen measures to disinfect surfaces, clean rooms, classrooms, and restrooms; social distancing is not mandatory in classrooms… The education sector and localities should plan to organize the high school graduation exam well, ensuring honesty and objectivity.

Non-essential businesses are allowed to reopen as normal, except for nightclubs and karaoke bars, provided they ensure compliance with disease prevention and control measures (wearing masks, using hand sanitizer).

The Prime Minister also agreed to lift the limit on the number of seats on public transport (airplanes, buses, trains, ships, etc.) but required passengers to wear face masks.

The Prime Minister has agreed to allow the organization of some sporting events and gatherings of large crowds, while recommending the wearing of face masks and the use of hand sanitizer.

The health sector continues to strengthen the capacity of Covid-19 testing laboratories, ensuring that all necessary conditions are met for testing. It also continues to monitor and update the disease situation and diagnostic techniques/reagents worldwide and in Vietnam to adjust testing activities in line with disease prevention and control efforts.

Continue researching treatment protocols, developing guidelines, and providing training for primary healthcare workers to monitor and supervise the health of people in the community and guide the handling of suspected or positive cases.

Ministries and People's Committees of localities must seriously implement the tasks and solutions assigned by the Government, focusing on removing difficulties for production and business, fiscal and monetary support packages, quickly delivering social welfare support funds according to Resolution 42 to those severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and combating fraud.

Relevant sectors and localities, especially the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and local authorities, should develop plans to attract and promote investment, seeking domestic and foreign corporations and businesses to invest and operate in their localities to create a more attractive environment for strong development in the future.

Regarding customs clearance of goods through secondary border gates along the Vietnam-China border, the Prime Minister agreed to allow the reopening of some secondary border gates and crossings as proposed by Lang Son and Quang Ninh provinces. For other secondary border gates and crossings, the Prime Minister authorized the People's Committees of border provinces to carefully consider and proactively reopen these gates and crossings based on the actual situation in their localities, following the principles stipulated in Decree 112, while ensuring disease control and prevention procedures. Only secondary border gates and crossings with high volumes of goods, especially agricultural, aquatic, and seafood exports from Vietnam and essential raw materials for domestic production, should be reopened.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is urgently directing and guiding localities to develop communication plans for safe destinations with specific and practical actions, promoting domestic tourism, especially during the current summer season. They are also proactively organizing the market and preparing plans to restart the international tourism market at an appropriate time.