Nghe An: Peace returns to 'epidemic epicenter' areas

Peaceful life Nghi Thuy

Over the past months, theCovid-19 epidemichas disrupted the lives of people in many places, especially in wards and communes with many positive cases. When Directive 15 of the Prime Minister was lifted, we had the opportunity to visit some localities to witness life gradually returning to normal.

The Covid-19 epidemic is under control, and peaceful life is returning to Cua Lo town. Photo: Le Thang

The first place is Nghi Thuy ward, which last month was the epicenter of Cua Lo town with a total of 43 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2. Although it is not as crowded and bustling as before, the people of the coastal town have started to return to business activities and go out to sea to fish and exploit seafood.

If Nghi Thuy ward is the epicenter of the epidemicCua Lo townThe Doan Ket block is the epicenter of Nghi Thuy ward with 11 F0 cases, forcing a medical quarantine area to be established. After a few days of ending social distancing, many fishermen in the Doan Ket block boarded boats to go out to sea to catch shrimp and fish, meeting the food needs of the people in the area.

Life in Nghi Thuy ward (Cua Lo town) is gradually returning to normal after the lockdown period to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: Cong Kien

Women have also started to return to their jobs of trading and selling seafood products, bringing shrimp and fish to traditional markets and processing facilities throughout the province. In general, people are strictly wearing masks in public places, and all shops and businesses have bottles of disinfectant available for customers to use when entering and leaving.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, a resident of the block, said: “After days of isolation and social distancing, the daily life of the family and the block is gradually returning to normal. I have been to the market several times, picking up goods from ships early in the morning and transporting them to the markets in Vinh and Nghi Loc. Wherever we go and whatever we do, we always wear masks and disinfect to prevent and fight the epidemic with the hope that the epidemic will not return, so that people's lives can be peaceful.”

According to Mr. Hoang Duc Thai - Head of the Block, the Doan Ket Block has 352 households (nearly 1,400 people), of which about 70% of the households exploit, catch and trade seafood. In mid-August, in the block, many cases of SARS-CoV-2 and 104 F1 cases continuously appeared, so it was necessary to establishblockademedical for more than 2 weeks. Currently, people have started to return to work, trade, and children have also gone to school.

People in Nghi Thuy ward (Cua Lo town) shop for clothes after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control lockdown. Photo: Cong Kien

Along Nguyen Xi Street, the main road running through Nghi Thuy area is bustling again, kiosks selling clothes, fruits, candies and seafood are quite crowded with customers.

“The pandemic has been going on for a long time, and I haven’t been able to buy the necessary things for my children to prepare for the new school year. Today I went out to buy new school bags, clothes and sandals for my children to go to school. I hope the pandemic won’t happen again so that the children can study with peace of mind and the adults can work with peace of mind.”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong, resident of Nghi Thuy ward (Cua Lo town)

Ms. Phan Hong Thuy - a seafood seller confided: "I have been selling for a few days, there are not many customers, the amount of goods consumed is still less than before, but it is still very exciting. Because, for a long time, I had to temporarily stop trading, had no source of income, life was difficult...".

Mr. Hoang Minh Chinh - Vice Chairman of Nghi Thuy Ward People's Committee said: "During the recent epidemic, the area had 43 F0 and more than 500 F1 cases and many checkpoints were set up to prevent and fight the Covid-19 epidemic. Now the new normal state is being established, nearly 100 boats have gone out to sea to catch seafood, people have also started to return to business, Hom market has been allowed to exchange essential goods. At the same time, the ward's Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention and Control always monitors the implementation of the "5K" recommendations to ensure safety".

Harvest joy in Nghi Dien

From the coastal town of Cua Lo, we continued up to Nghi Dien commune, the epicenter of Nghi Loc district in recent times. With 13 casespositiveWith SARS - CoV-2, from mid-June until now, Nghi Dien commune has had to establish a medical quarantine area twice. The epidemic occurred from mid-August to early September, with 4 hamlets being locked down, "no one can go in or out", significantly affecting the daily life, production and business of the people.

People in Toan Thang hamlet, Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc) take advantage of the time to dry summer-autumn rice. Photo: Cong Kien

We returned to Toan Thang hamlet, which has the highest number of F0 and F1 cases and is also the hamlet that has suffered the most severe consequences due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After days of isolation and lockdown, people in the hamlet have gone to the fields to harvest summer-autumn rice. The entire yard, garden and along the roads are covered with golden rice and shimmering golden straw, and everyone's face shows excitement and joy.

As soon as the sun came out, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh hurriedly raked the rice into the yard. Ms. Thanh shared: “Luckily, the lockdown ended just as the rice was ripening. Now my family has finished harvesting more than 5 sao, the rice crop is good, so I am very excited. However, it has been raining a lot these past few days, so drying the rice is quite difficult. I hope the next few days will be sunny.”

When the sun comes up, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Toan Thang hamlet, Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc), dries the rice she just harvested. Photo: Cong Kien

Near Ms. Thanh’s house, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tinh also harvested a lot of rice. The drying yard was not enough, so Ms. Tinh had to dry the rice on the street. “It rained a lot, and if we didn’t spread the rice in time, it would sprout, so we had to spread it out on the street. I know it will affect people’s travel, but there is no other way,” Ms. Tinh said.

Like Toan Thang hamlet, Yen Thinh hamlet residents are also busy drying summer-autumn rice. All the roads in the hamlet are filled with laughter and the sound of raking rice in the drying yards. Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan said: “These past few days, life has returned to normal, the harvest is over, now each person in the family does something to make a living. I follow the members of the construction team to continue construction work near my house, my wife sells small items, and the children have gone to school.”

The Covid-19 epidemic is under control, and life in Yen Thinh hamlet, Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc) is returning to normal. Photo: Cong Kien

According to Mr. Phan Cong Duong - Chairman of Nghi Dien Commune People's Committee, the whole commune has 8 hamlets with nearly 2,500 households (more than 8,400 people). Besides agricultural production, many households also have income from secondary jobs such as construction, mechanics andservice business… Since the implementation of Prime Minister's Directive 19, people's lives are gradually returning to normal, however, epidemic prevention and control work continues to be carried out, absolutely no subjectivity or negligence.

Early morning and late afternoon, the commune and hamlet loudspeakers still maintain propaganda work on epidemic prevention. Ensuring urgent announcements and documents related to epidemic prevention and control reach the people.

“Currently, farmers have finished harvesting rice, and construction, production, and business activities have also restarted. People’s biggest wish is to get vaccinated soon so they can work and live with peace of mind.”

Mr. Phan Cong Duong - Chairman of Nghi Dien Commune People's Committee (Nghi Loc)

Thus, peaceful life is gradually returning to Nghe An, a new normal state is being established in the epidemic areas in Vinh city, Cua Lo town to Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Do Luong, Dien Chau and Que Phong districts... We believe that with the drastic participation of authorities at all levels, functional sectors and the vigilance of the people, the Covid-19 epidemic will continue to be controlled and pushed back. However, people should not be negligent or subjective in epidemic prevention and control but always ensure 5K in any circumstances.