Stories about sleepless nights preventing and fighting Covid-19 in Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - Since the Lunar New Year, those working in the fight against Covid-19 in Nghe An have rarely had a full night's sleep. Fear of the epidemic and a sense of responsibility for people's health have become the strength that helps them "hold on" to sleepless nights. Many sleepless nights have passed, but there are some things that remain.
Sleepless nights fighting the epidemic
The night of March 11 and the early morning of March 12 was a memorable night. Upon receiving reports from the people and from people returning from the epidemic area, at 0:00, leaders of the Health sector, the Provincial Police, the Provincial Military Command and other relevant agencies set up a checkpoint to block passenger buses on National Highway 1A to bring 8 people to the Military quarantine area in Nghi An commune, Vinh city.
At 3am, the process of taking medical statements and sending samples for testing was completed. This sleepless night was memorable not only because of the sense of responsibility of the authorities but also because of the spirit of voluntary declaration and concern for the public health of Mr. HVT himself - who had just returned from Japan.
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| Doctors receive citizens at the quarantine area at midnight. Photo: Le Thang |
From here, the sleepless nights of the functional forces began to appear continuously and continuously. At 10:30 p.m. on March 18, the Military Quarantine Area in Nghi An commune began to receive Vietnamese citizens returning from Laos, to quarantine and prevent the Covid-19 epidemic for 14 days.
To carry out the mission, Vinh City Medical Center sent 6 doctors and nurses to disinfect the room and check the health of the people.
Doctor Nguyen Van Long - Director of Vinh City Medical Center said: At 5:00 a.m. on March 19, the medical examination was completed, nearly 60 citizens returned to the isolation room to rest. The doctors and nurses had not yet had time to take off their stuffy protective clothing when they had to start receiving two more buses carrying Vietnamese citizens from Laos through Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh) at 7:00 a.m. That day, work followed work and it was not until 1:00 a.m. on March 20 that the doctors, nurses, officers and soldiers were able to rest.
From March 18 to March 20, the Military Quarantine Area in Nghi An Commune received 453 Vietnamese citizens returning from Laos through the Cha Lo (Quang Binh), Cau Treo (Ha Tinh) and Nam Can (Nghe An) border gates. Most of them were from Nghe An, in addition to people from 14 other provinces and cities, plus 2 Irish tourists. Disease prevention quarantine is not simply a matter of spraying chemicals, checking health and making medical declarations for people entering the quarantine area. It is also about serving food, accommodation, daily health checks; arranging rooms for sick people, pregnant women, children, and couples for convenience. The authorities even had to "handle" quarantine for drug addicts who had a seizure and broke into the quarantine area.
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| Disease prevention and quarantine work is not simply a matter of spraying vehicles, checking health and making medical declarations for people entering the concentrated area. Photo: Le Thang |
Colonel Duong Minh Hien - Deputy Commander of the Provincial Military Command said: The Army's centralized quarantine area in Nghi An commune has 50 people serving nearly 500 people, including many special cases. The area initially had 6 doctors and nurses, then reduced to 4 people, 2 people in charge of health checks, 2 people in charge of spraying for epidemic prevention. Just that much shows how much work is. Despite many difficulties, the officers, soldiers, and medical staff always strive to best serve the citizens. For example, ensuring food and accommodation conditions: Each room has 8 people. The room has a private restroom, TV, and wifi. Every day, citizens are fed according to the military's 3-meal regime of 57,000 VND/person/day. Each meal has 5 dishes, including 3 savory dishes, 1 vegetable, 1 soup, which is regularly changed. In the quarantine area, we also arranged a sports training area for citizens to exercise.
The thoughtful care given to citizens in quarantine to prevent and control the epidemic has been highly appreciated. Mr. Nguyen Duc Hop, 26 years old, who returned from Laos and has been quarantined since March 18, expressed his gratitude: Coming here, everyone receives great care and help. Personal belongings are fully provided in spacious rooms. Meals are nutritious and especially health monitoring, examination, and encouragement from medical staff, officers, and soldiers. We, the quarantined people, feel very secure...
On March 20, the Army's centralized quarantine area in Nghi An commune, Nghe An province, was overloaded and began receiving citizens returning from Laos and Thailand to quarantine at the An Nursing Home at 40 Cua Hoi (Cua Lo town). Doctors and nurses from the Cua Lo Town Medical Center, Military Hospital 4 and functional forces had another sleepless night.
Doctor Hoang Khac Tu - Deputy Director of Cua Lo Town Medical Center said: At 7:00 p.m. on March 20, Cua Hoi quarantine area began receiving 62 citizens from Laos and Thailand returning to Vietnam through Cau Treo border gate. The center sent a team of 6 medical staff and doctors to perform the task, including 3 people to check health and 3 people to spray anti-epidemic. At 2:30 a.m. on March 21, the work was temporarily completed, ensuring strictness and safety.
The work had just stopped for a while when at 4am, the vehicles carrying citizens from Cha Lo, Cau Treo, and Nam Can border gates arrived again. The work of spraying rooms, checking health, and arranging accommodation continued. At 2:30pm on March 21, the work of receiving citizens for quarantine was completed.
At this time, Cua Hoi quarantine area has 418 citizens quarantined, including 7 children and many pregnant women. Of these 418 citizens, the majority are from Nghe An, in addition to citizens from provinces such as Hung Yen, Nam Dinh, Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, and Hanoi city.
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| Spraying disinfectant on cars of citizens returning from quarantine. Photo: Le Thang |
Similar to the Military Quarantine Area in Nghi An Commune, the work of taking care of the health of citizens quarantined to prevent and fight Covid-19 at Cua Hoi quarantine area is not simply a matter of checking body temperature twice a day per person. Doctor Hoang Khac Tu calculated that some incidents that occurred on March 21 needed to be handled: 2 pregnant women with threatened miscarriage needed care; 02 people with open wounds needed stitches; 01 person needed to continue rabies vaccination; 02 people with chronic stomach pain; 01 addict was handed over to Thanh Hoa Police for quarantine at a drug rehabilitation facility...
Early morning on March 22, the quarantine area at the old provincial Military School (Ha Huy Tap ward, Vinh city) opened to receive citizens for quarantine. Doctor Nguyen Van Long - Director of Vinh City Medical Center said: In this first trip, there were 30 Vietnamese citizens returning from Laos and Thailand through Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh). By 5:00 a.m., the work of bringing 30 citizens to the quarantine area was completed. To meet the epidemic prevention and health care needs of quarantined people, Vinh City Medical Center withdrew 02 doctors and nurses from the Military Quarantine Area in Nghi An commune and added a number of other officers to perform duties here. It is expected that on March 22, the concentrated quarantine area in Ha Huy Tap ward will receive 100 more citizens.
Need to share
The sleepless nights that have passed and are about to come have not shaken the Covid-19 prevention and control staff. A doctor working at the centralized quarantine area shared: “We have, are and always have a good mentality of 3 together (eating together, living together, and joining hands to prevent and fight the epidemic) with the citizens, so we have never been discouraged or shaken by the epidemic. Faced with the risk of the epidemic threatening the health and lives of the people, these hardships are not worth mentioning.... However, there is still one thing that I am concerned about, which is the initiative in preventing and fighting the epidemic. Many times, when we have just brought lunch boxes, suddenly a car appears carrying citizens from other provinces to be quarantined. They arrive at the gate and then notify the Steering Committee.”
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| The medical team is eating, living, and joining hands to fight the epidemic with citizens in the quarantine area. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
The sleepless nights will continue and expand from the lowlands to the highlands. According to Nghe An province's calculations: The number of Vietnamese citizens returning to the country in the coming days will increase. Nghe An will expand and build more quarantine areas to receive citizens to prevent and control the epidemic.
Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee said: "Preparations are being urgently carried out so that as early as the afternoon of March 22, the centralized quarantine facility in Ky Son can receive citizens entering the country through Nam Can border gate. The centralized quarantine areas in Tuong Duong and Con Cuong are also trying to speed up preparations to receive citizens for quarantine on March 23. When reducing the load on the centralized quarantine facilities managed by the Army, Nghe An province will continue to receive citizens entering the country through the border gates of Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces".
Many consecutive sleepless nights receiving people for quarantine and processing information are putting great pressure on the epidemic prevention and control force. Since Tet, Nghe An has had many, many meetings of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control at all levels, and the health sector taking place at night. During the day, the same people run back and forth to implement the epidemic prevention and control, and at night they meet to forecast and discuss solutions for implementing the epidemic prevention and control work tomorrow. The staff of the Provincial Center for Disease Control have all become exhausted from the journey of investigation, sampling, quarantine, and spraying disinfectants. And ahead of them are still over 1,000 quarantined citizens who need to be tested for Covid-19.
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| Representatives of the Faith group presented gifts to medical staff and armed forces soldiers on quarantine duty to fight the epidemic. Photo: Thanh Chung |
The Covid-19 prevention and control forces are the most valuable assets in the current fight against Covid-19. Now more than ever, they need to reduce the load and share.
On the afternoon of March 21, the Faith volunteer group of officials, employees, and laborers of Vinh city came to share, visit, encourage, and give gifts to the forces on duty to prevent and fight Covid-19. The total value of the gifts is 70 million VND. This sharing is very valuable and needs to be multiplied... And it will be even more valuable when everyone fulfills their civic duties well, participates in preventing and fighting the epidemic by implementing disease prevention from each individual, making medical declarations, and each of us becomes an active propagandist in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic./.
