Director of Nghe An Department of Health: High risk of widespread Covid-19 outbreak

On the morning of November 12, the Provincial People's Committee held a special meeting for November. Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting.

Attending the meeting were comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; leaders of the Provincial People's Council Committees. Photo: Pham Bang

The meeting heard the leader of the Department of Health present a draft report on Covid-19 prevention and control work in Nghe An province.

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health said that for the three previous waves of the epidemic, Nghe An province only recorded 5 cases, of which 4 cases were quarantined immediately after entering the country and 1 case in Hoang Mai town. Particularly for the fourth wave of the epidemic, from the first day of the epidemic to November 8, 2021, the whole province recorded 2,730 Covid-19 patients in 21/21 localities; the number of patients being treated is 406 people, the number of patients who died is 20 people.

In the past 7 days, the epidemic in the province has had many unusual developments. The number of infections in the area has tended to increase, with 200 cases recorded in many localities in the province, and a number of clusters of cases related to people returning from epidemic areas across the country.

“Currently, in the province, the locality with the most complicated epidemic situation is Nghi Loc district, which has many locations related to religious activities. Second is Vinh city, with 7 wards and communes recording cases. Third is Hung Nguyen district, with 5 communes having cases and appearing even in industrial parks. Fourth is Quy Hop district, with 2 communes having cases and fifth is Quynh Luu district…”, the Director of the Department of Health said, emphasizing that the risk of a widespread epidemic outbreak in the province is very high, while resources for epidemic prevention are increasingly limited.

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health presented a report on Covid-19 prevention and control. Photo: Pham Bang

Since July 24, the province has welcomed over 50,000 citizens returning from southern provinces and cities with the epidemic, including 854 positive cases of Covid-19. Since October 1, the province has welcomed over 31,628 citizens, including 447 positive cases of Covid-19.

According to the Director of the Department of Health, in the work of epidemic prevention and control, Nghe An has established 14,628 community Covid Teams with over 70,000 participants. Forming a testing network with 9 laboratories using RT-PCR technology, with a capacity of over 40,000 samples/day. The number of people vaccinated with at least 1 dose is 1,216,403, accounting for about 37% of the population and 174,031 people vaccinated with 2 doses, accounting for 5% of the population. At the peak, the province established 7 treatment facilities, including 6 field hospitals.

Regarding social security work, up to now there has been68,139 beneficiaries were approved for support under Resolution 68 and Decision 23 with a budget of over VND 100,667 billion. The Provincial People's Committee has provided support funds for 52,042 beneficiaries, with a budget of VND 76,572 billion.

Emphasizing that the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in the coming time will be very complicated and difficult, the Director of the Department of Health said that it is necessary to continue to persevere in the direction and strategy of the Central Government, the Government, the National Steering Committee, and the central ministries and branches in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic. Absolutely avoid subjectivity and negligence in disease prevention.

Based on the actual epidemic situation, localities need to update plans and strategies for safe adaptation and response to the epidemic in the new situation with the 4-on-the-spot motto. Strengthen inspection and control, especially for people coming to and returning from other localities, especially from areas with epidemic levels 3 and 4.

In particular, it is necessary to rectify the management of epidemic prevention and control in concentrated quarantine areas, absolutely preventing cross-infection in quarantine areas and from quarantine areas to the community. Develop a plan to organize safe vaccination and ensure epidemic prevention and control according to each scale of vaccine distribution. Strengthen inspection, supervision and communication work in a timely manner, ensuring consistent and accurate information in many forms and multimedia to raise people's awareness.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long spoke at the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

Agreeing with the report of the Department of Health, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long emphasized that the risk of a widespread outbreak "is present and the situation is very tense". New cases have appeared with all components, subjects, areas, and locations, of which the most complicated are in religious establishments, industrial parks, and hospitals.

"The most important thing now is not to trace the cause of the disease but to find and isolate F0, focusing on intensive treatment for seriously ill patients," said the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and requested that comrades assigned to be in charge of the area actively follow, grasp and direct the grassroots to do a good job of epidemic prevention and control.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh concluded the content on Covid-19 prevention and control work. Photo: Pham Bang

Concluding this content, agreeing on the complicated epidemic situation that has existed and is very likely to spread widely, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh said that from now until Tet, the number of citizens returning home may continue to increase. Therefore, localities need to be more drastic in limiting large gatherings. The Department of Finance balances the budget and advises the Provincial People's Committee to allocate enough resources for epidemic prevention and control in the coming time./.