The story of officials enthusiastically 'locking' people's gates to fight the Covid-19 epidemic

The story of nearly 30 households in Thieu Phu commune (Thieu Phong district, Thanh Hoa) having their gates locked because their relatives went home for Tet has left negative impressions on the commune's leadership team when they gave very emotional instructions, sometimes even without clearly understanding their responsibilities and powers. Under the direction of the District Chairman himself, these households have now been "unlocked".

According to the explanation of the Chairman of Thieu Phu commune, the gate locking is to "limit the risk of the epidemic spreading to the community because there have been many people returning from high-risk epidemic areas, who are quarantined at home but still leave their homes". Moreover, the locking of the gate and posting of notices in front of people's houses have been approved by the people after being "mobilized and explained" by the commune authorities.

Notice of houses with people related to Covid-19 epidemic is posted at the gate. Illustration photo

Mr. Vo Manh Son, Chairman of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Federation of Labor, National Assembly delegate of Thanh Hoa province, said that the essence of the story here is still the spirit of fighting the epidemic of the officials, perhaps because of being too cautious, afraid that people from epidemic areas returning could cause the epidemic to spread in the locality, so the way of doing things is unreasonable, somewhat rigid, causing the supervision to be too tight, not in accordance with the direction of the Government through Resolution 128 NQ/CP.

"Thieu Phu commune leaders may not have understood the province's directives, but according to the information reported by the press, the locality has quickly changed and learned from experience. The lives of households have returned to normal, and isolation and travel are in accordance with general regulations," said Mr. Son.

However, the National Assembly delegate of Thanh Hoa province said that, from the incident in Thieu Phu, there needs to be unity in propaganda and direction in all localities across the country, so that authorities at all levels can implement synchronously, without causing the feeling of hindering people from returning home for Tet or hindering travel and trade.

Not only in Thanh Hoa, but also in Thai Binh, a family of 2 elderly people and 2 children in Cao Bat Nu village, Nam Cao commune (Kien Xuong district) was also "locked" in the house for quarantine because the 2 children returned from the "red zone" of Hai Phong. It was not until nearly 7 days later, when the incident reached the commune leaders and there were instructions, that the village cadres unlocked the door for this family.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Cao commune affirmed: "The commune does not direct or regulate the confinement of people at home. Depending on the case, the village chiefs will flexibly handle the situation to avoid spreading the disease."

Regarding the recent epidemic prevention measures in some localities, Mr. Vo Van Dung, Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, said that the Government has issued Resolution 128 NQ/CP on adaptation to the new situation. On that basis, localities need to have clear regulations on centralized and home quarantine of F0, with supervision by the community Covid Team as well as regular monitoring by health workers. The same goes for those who travel far to quarantine at home, they also need supervision by the community Covid Team, and should not use the measure of locking people's houses as recently. This is also the way Nghe An is doing now.

Village cadres are the grassroots level closest to the people. After nearly 2 years of fighting the epidemic, they have the right to do whatever they want and to what extent, is it possible that, up to now, there still exists an arbitrary way of doing things, if not arbitrary and abusive? Eagerly fighting the epidemic in a mechanical and rigid way, I think, does not stop at just reminding and learning from experience. If such cases are not strictly handled, this situation will recur, especially when the number of people returning to their hometowns for Tet is increasing. No government will have the power to lock down all households with people returning from epidemic areas. Here, we need a smart and responsible way of doing things to both fight the epidemic and encourage people to proactively prevent the epidemic.

In response to press reports, on January 17, the Ministry of Health sent a dispatch to the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and cities regarding the rectification of inappropriate epidemic prevention and control measures.

The Ministry of Health's official dispatch clearly states: If there is any violation, it is required to strictly handle it according to the provisions of law or immediately transfer the file to the police agency for consideration and handling.

In addition, localities should strengthen inspection and supervision of the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures in accordance with regulations; promptly correct the application of inappropriate epidemic prevention and control measures, and resolutely prevent violations in the work of preventing and controlling the COVID-19 epidemic./.