Medical staff in Nghe An are waiting wearily for their anti-epidemic allowance.

Struggling to fight the epidemic

Ms. T. (29 years old) shook her head in disappointment when asked about the anti-epidemic allowance that she and her colleagues should have received. Ms. T. is an officer at a medical facility in Vinh City, but she asked to remain anonymous when talking about this issue for fear of affecting her work.

More than a year ago, when the epidemic began to break out in Nghe An, Ms. T. was mobilized to all the hot spots, the most complicated outbreaks, with her main job being to collect test samples, but there were times when she had to take on many other tasks due to overload. Her daughter was still young, but because of her duty, the two of them had to be apart for more than 2 months. Working a lot, having to wear hot protective clothing, there were times when she felt exhausted. "That was the most difficult and memorable time since I entered the medical profession. Although it was hard, we were always proud to have contributed a little effort to defeat the pandemic," T. said.

A female medical worker in Nghe An was exhausted while participating in the fight against the epidemic. Photo: HC

However, T. still feels sad that until now, she and her colleagues have not received the anti-epidemic allowance. “It may not be a large amount of money, but it is a recognition for the team participating in the fight against the epidemic. Every time I mention this, I feel sad,” T. added.

The amount of money that T. mentioned is the allowance for those participating in the fight against the epidemic as stipulated in Resolution 16 of the Government. Specifically, those who monitor, investigate, and verify the epidemic; those who directly examine, diagnose, and treat people with Covid-19, suspected of having Covid-19 in the isolation area of ​​medical examination and treatment facilities; those who take samples, combine samples, separate samples, and directly test for SARS-CoV-2 at medical facilities; those who clean, disinfect, and destroy pathogens in the treatment area for people with Covid-19 will receive an allowance of 300,000 VND/person/day.

Those who transport patients and specimens; preserve corpses of patients; wash medical and patient clothes and linen; collect bottles, jars, and chemical boxes; protect the isolation treatment area; clean, disinfect, and destroy pathogens in the isolation area at medical examination and treatment facilities; those who perform epidemiological surveillance and medical monitoring at home isolation facilities and medical isolation facilities as designated by state management agencies; those who clean instruments and prepare media at medical facilities to serve the SARS-CoV-2 testing room will receive an anti-epidemic allowance of VND 200,000/person/day.

Medical staff work day and night to fight the epidemic. Photo: HC

The level of 150,000 VND/person/day is applied to people on duty at centralized medical quarantine facilities (not applicable to home quarantine or accommodation quarantine); People on duty to enforce medical quarantine, track down subjects who must apply medical quarantine measures but do not comply with medical quarantine measures; Interpreters, 115 emergency teams, crews transporting quarantined people; drivers taking officers to inspect and supervise epidemic prevention and control; People on duty to control epidemics at teams, checkpoints, trails, and openings along the entire border; carry out procedures for people entering the country at border gates and seaports; People on duty to isolate, block, patrol, control and ensure security and order in centralized medical quarantine areas, epidemic control checkpoints in residential areas with people infected with Covid-19...

In addition, there are also lower allowances for many other cases contributing to the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, in T.'s case, she will receive 300,000 VND/day during the time she participates in the epidemic prevention work. T. does not remember exactly how many days she participated in the epidemic prevention work, but she estimates that the amount of money she receives is up to tens of millions of VND.

Many localities have not paid fully.

Speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporters, a leader of the Department of Health confirmed the delay in paying anti-epidemic allowances, in which the responsibility belongs to districts, cities and towns. After receiving feedback from medical facilities, the Department of Health also sent a document to the Vinh City People's Committee requesting early payment of anti-epidemic allowances.

According to a leader of Vinh City Medical Center, for more than a year now, since the Covid-19 epidemic began to break out in Vinh City, the anti-epidemic allowances for medical staff in the area have not been paid a single penny. This amount is about 8.1 billion VND. Vinh City Medical Center has sent documents to the City People's Committee twice but has not received any response.

Sadly, among these, about 93 million VND in anti-epidemic allowances for the medical staff of Ha Tinh who went to reinforce Vinh City when the epidemic peaked in August 2021 have not yet been paid. This is the amount of money for 152 medical staff who actively supported Vinh City during 3 days of large-scale sample collection. Meanwhile, before that, in June 2021, Nghe An also sent a medical staff group to Ha Tinh to help this locality fight the epidemic. And just a few days after completing the task, the allowance was paid by Ha Tinh.

Nghe An medical staff carry their suitcases to fight the epidemic. Photo: CH

Discussing this issue, a representative of the Vinh City Finance Department admitted that the locality has been slow in paying anti-epidemic allowances according to Resolution 16. Regarding the allowances for employees, the locality has only paid 1.4 billion VND in early 2021. "The cost of epidemic prevention is too large, while the local budget is limited. Payment has exceeded the capacity of Vinh City," he said, adding that Vinh City still has about 10 billion VND in anti-epidemic allowances in 2021 that have not been paid yet, most of which are for medical staff.

According to the investigation of Nghe An Newspaper reporters, not only Vinh City, but also in many localities in the province, the forces participating in the fight against the epidemic are also waiting for allowances. In Ky Son district, Mr. Sam Van Hai - Director of the District Medical Center said that the policy regime for medical staff fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in the district has only paid about half. The remaining part has not been paid because the local budget is still limited. Similarly, in Cua Lo town, only about half has been paid... In Nam Dan district, only about 200 million VND in anti-epidemic allowances have been paid. "The medical staff are very disappointed. Up to now, only 200 million VND has been paid to those who got vaccinated, while those who do other jobs have not received any money," a leader of the Nam Dan District Medical Center said indignantly.

Exhausted after a day of mass testing in Vinh City. Photo: Contributor

According to this person, not only is it delayed, but the payment procedures also have many shortcomings, making medical staff dissatisfied. Specifically, the previous regulation stipulated that people who get vaccinated against Covid-19 would receive an allowance of 7,500 VND/dose, so medical staff were very excited. But then it was regulated that each day would not exceed 150,000 VND, and at the same time, it was accompanied by the condition that a medical certificate was required to be paid. “Meanwhile, in the past, to inject the vaccine, many forces had to participate, including police, militia, administrative staff... To arrange an injection table, it took dozens of people, not just the work of each person injecting. Now that the regulations are like that, when we receive the money, we don't know how to divide it among our colleagues," this person said, adding that the payment also has shortcomings, especially paying for gas when a receipt is required to be paid.

“This is a common situation. Many medical staff are very upset. I think the authorities should also sit down together to find a solution soon,” the medical officer added.