President Nguyen Xuan Phuc: People's lives are paramount

This morning (July 30),President Nguyen Xuan PhucThe delegation had a working session with Ho Chi Minh City leaders on Covid-19 prevention and control.

After listening to the report and comments, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc shared the difficulties and challenges that the people of Ho Chi Minh City have experienced during the 61 days of social distancing.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly appreciated the efforts in epidemic prevention and control and the solutions in the coming time of Ho Chi Minh City. He commended the forces participating in the frontline of the epidemic prevention and control, dedicating their best to protecting the health and safety of the people.

The President said that the city has built 16 new large-scale field hospitals, with a total number of beds that can reach nearly 50,000, which is a commendable effort.

The President emphasized that the first and foremost goal is to protect people's health and lives and minimize the number of deaths due to Covid-19.

“We have a low mortality rate, but people’s lives are paramount. We need to concentrate all resources to reduce the mortality rate,” President Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested.

According to the President, the core issue is implementation. If implementation is not strict and resolute, the problem cannot be solved. The core of Directives 15 and 16 is social distancing, but reports show that people are still crowded on the streets. The President requested that Ho Chi Minh City learn from the slow practice of social distancing; and suggested that the city continue to extend social distancing for a longer period of time if necessary.

During the social distancing period, the President requested that Ho Chi Minh City must ensure social security, provide food to people, and not let anyone go hungry.

“Party cell secretaries, village and neighborhood chiefs must be held responsible for allowing people to go hungry. Irresponsible people must be strictly disciplined,” the President emphasized.

Regarding health care and consultation for the people, the President requested that people should not call without a specialist answering, or the answer should not be satisfactory, causing people to panic. Seriously ill people should not report their news without attention; sick people should not be left without care.

Regarding the shift in focus to treatment, the President requested that we must both focus on treatment and prevention and control of the epidemic to reduce the number of sick people and deaths.

Diversify solutions for managing asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic F0. Implementing home care for F0 is necessary and should be widely promoted. Do not let there be a shortage of ventilators and oxygen in hospitals.

Regarding the vaccination work, the President directed that it must be implemented quickly, otherwise it would be a mistake to the people. He affirmed that the Party, the State, and the health sector continue to focus on vaccines for Ho Chi Minh City, so they must take advantage of the social distancing period to safely vaccinate the people.

Finally, the President requested that the city need to have a plan to restore production and rebuild strongly and synchronously after the Covid-19 pandemic. He expressed his belief that Ho Chi Minh City, with its tradition of dynamism and creativity, will overcome this difficult period with the whole country.

At the meeting, the President, on behalf of the working delegation, presented Ho Chi Minh City with 103 billion VND and 30 ventilators.

70% of the population aged 18 and over will be vaccinated in August

Speaking after receiving the President's instructions, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen, on behalf of the Party Committee, government and people of the city, thanked the President for his attention and encouragement in the city's epidemic prevention and control work.

According to Mr. Nen, since the outbreak, the President has closely followed, regularly directed, encouraged and shared with the city, and given timely instructions to help the city's leaders fight the epidemic effectively.

“Yesterday, when getting off the plane, the President immediately went to the quarantine and blockade areas, to the field hospital to visit and encourage people and anti-epidemic forces, especially in Cu Chi district. This has brought positive energy to the people of the city, especially the anti-epidemic forces on the front lines,” Secretary Nguyen Van Nen shared.

The head of the City Party Committee emphasized that at today's meeting, the President directed many key issues; acknowledged and evaluated the city's efforts to overcome difficulties during the pandemic.

Thereby, he requested all levels and sectors to acknowledge and implement the President's instructions to respond to the pandemic; stay calm in every action, put people's health first, ensure the health of the economy, the health of the health sector and security and order of the city.

He pledged to the President to try and make every effort to overcome difficulties during the pandemic, thoroughly implement Directive 16 and drastic measures to control the epidemic, bring the city back to a new normal state, and try his best to prevent the epidemic from spreading further.

In particular, the work of saving people is of utmost importance as directed by the President, minimizing the mortality rate through the efforts of current forces, including the forces of the Ministry of Health.

Regarding vaccines, the head of the City Party Committee said that the Government has a plan to prioritize and allocate vaccines to Ho Chi Minh City so that by August, 70% of people aged 18 and over can be vaccinated.

He requested to innovate vaccination methods, mobilize the entire health system and other forces to vaccinate in addition to other anti-epidemic work.

The method is to maximize the 5 on-site efforts, mobilize forces to fight the epidemic, and control the epidemic more thoroughly.

According to Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong, although the rate has slowed down, the number of daily cases is still high. Therefore, to control the Covid-19 epidemic, after August 1, Ho Chi Minh City can extend the social distancing according to Directive 16 for another 2 weeks.