The epicenter of the epidemic is Cham Puong...

Hear and see in Cham Puong

These days, the village is poor.Cham Puong,Luong Minh commune is now even more desolate due to the Covid-19 outbreak, forcing it to be locked down to fight the epidemic. Houses are isolated, doors are locked; the village is "no one goes out, no one comes in"... In the small, rickety wooden house, the 5 grandchildren of Mrs. Lu Thi An (42 years old) between 5 and 7 years old fell silent when they saw a person in protective clothing knocking on the door. Surely those 5 children were aware of their fear ofCovid-19 epidemicThe first feeling was the discomfort of having samples taken for testing. The children's uncle is the youngest son of Mrs. An - one of the 131 F1 in the village who was taken to a centralized medical quarantine to prevent the epidemic.

Ms. Lu Thi An was hesitant when she saw someone wearing protective clothing knocking on the door. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Fearing the epidemic, Ms. Lu Thi An talked to reporters through a barbed wire fence hanging 5-6 dirty, used masks (and they will be reused a few more times). Ms. An has 4 sons, all 4 of them work as factory workers, only the youngest son who just returned has just been quarantined. Of the 4 children, 2 are married. Before leaving, the children left 5 grandchildren for their grandparents to take care of...

Mrs. An said: “The Covid-19 epidemic broke out, the whole village was quarantined, my grandparents were very worried. Worried because they would go hungry, with nothing to feed the children. Right now, the family only has a box of instant noodles, a bag of rice and some vegetables and fruits sent and distributed by the district and commune. We don’t know what will happen in the long run... We can’t leave the house, so my grandparents can’t go to the forest to find more food for the children.”

As she spoke, Mrs. An took out an empty pot and two baskets of vegetables and fruits to cook lunch for her grandchildren. In a small basket were half a pumpkin and a few sweet eggplants, along with a few perilla leaves. That was lunch for the grandparents and five grandchildren. The other basket contained a bunch of water spinach, reserved for dinner. The family’s daily meals were not nutritious, and now during the epidemic, they were even more frugal, “saving food for a rainy day”...

Right next to Mrs. An’s house is the family of Mr. Lu Van Khoat (67 years old). All the children and grandchildren have gone to work, leaving only the grandparents at home. Mr. Khoat sadly and silently looks out at the village’s concrete road.

“All the shops are closed now, and I don’t know how to buy things even if I had money. If the epidemic continues like this, the vegetables I collect around the house will run out. The district and commune have sent food, but I’m still worried that it won’t be enough. There are still many households and many people in the village,” Mr. Khoat shared worriedly.

The Covid-19 epidemic broke out, the whole village was locked down and quarantined, affecting the lives of many people in Cham Puong. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Today is the 5th day since 3 Covid-19 cases were detected in Cham Puong village (July 13). In the past 4 days, 18 more people were detected in Cham Puong. 21 infected people are equivalent to 5% of the village's population. Now, in the three residential clusters along the three streams in the village, everywhere there are ropes and signs hanging saying that people are quarantined to prevent the epidemic... Surveying the needs of households that are performing their quarantine obligations to prevent the epidemic, Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc - Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune said: "The biggest worry now is still hunger! Implementing the anti-epidemic blockade, shops are not open, traders are not coming in. Cham Puong people who have always lived on the forest are not allowed to leave their homes, go to the forest to find vegetables and bamboo shoots. Now Cham Puong is in the lean season. Rice, soy sauce, fish sauce and salt are all in short supply. I hope that all levels, sectors, organizations and benefactors will continue to support and help Cham Puong in particular and Luong Minh in general to defeat the pandemic."

Cham Puong is the oldest and most populous village of Luong Minh commune. The village currently has 190 households, with 978 people, belonging to the Kho Mu ethnic group. The education level of the people in the village is low and uneven. The economic life of the people mainly depends on slash-and-burn farming, livestock and poultry farming, and funds sent back by migrant workers. There are 214 people in the village working at home and abroad (most of them are manual laborers, so their income is not high). 74% of the households in the village are poor...

A residential area of ​​Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Over the years, the district Party Committee and governmentXiangyangand Luong Minh commune have had many solutions to promote the socio-economic life in Cham Puong such as encouraging people to expand rice fields, raise large livestock, grow high-yield cassava; promote vocational training and vocational training... Cham Puong has had certain changes, however, this change is very slow because local people have not yet changed their old production habits and practices, so output and efficiency are low, Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc shared.

Actively fight the epidemic

The Covid-19 outbreak in Cham Puong was first detected on July 13, when 3 Covid-19 patients who were members of the same family came to the Tuong Duong District Medical Center for examination and treatment. After a quick test, the Center sent the test samples to Nghe An CDC for confirmation, with positive results for SARS-CoV-2.

Medical staff climbed mountains and waded through streams to get from home to collect Covid-19 test samples. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Immediately, the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province and Tuong Duong district held an urgent meeting, implementing urgent, drastic and timely measures to fight the epidemic, including: issuing documents, directing the entire political system to participate in the fight against the epidemic; organizing disinfection and detoxification of areas related to F0s; transferring F0s to Nghe An Field Hospital No. 1 for treatment. The health sector and Tuong Duong district and Ky Son district coordinated to investigate and trace F1 cases, send them to centralized medical quarantine to prevent the epidemic; take samples for testing for all people in Cham Puong village; establish 4 checkpoints to control and prevent Covid-19 epidemic, block off and block at Cham Puong village and Luong Minh commune... The entire district of Tuong Duong implemented social distancing according to Directive 15; Luong Minh commune; implemented social distancing in the entire commune of Luong Minh according to Directive 16; established a medical quarantine area in Cham Puong village to prevent the epidemic.

Information from the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in Tuong Duong District: The district has activated the Covid-19 prevention and control system according to the 4-on-the-spot principle, maintaining the effective operation of the tracing team (led by the police), the sampling team, and the community Covid Team; putting the centralized quarantine area into operation, responding to the quarantine of F1 cases; stepping up propaganda work for people to understand and comply with regulations on epidemic prevention and control and avoid people being too pessimistic and worried... Thanks to the synchronous implementation of solutions, up to now (July 16), Tuong Duong has detected 21 F0 cases; promptly preventing the epidemic from spreading widely. Up to now, with the help of the authorities, Tuong Duong has basically identified the source of the Cham Puong outbreak.

Police and medical forces take samples for testing of cases returning from the fields after the lockdown in Cham Puong. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Doctor Tran Dinh Cong - Deputy Director of Tuong Duong District Medical Center said: Previously, Cham Puong people were quite negligent, contemptuous, and unaware of the dangers of the Covid-19 epidemic. In the past few days, the police, health, and commune officials have regularly reminded, propagated, and advised, so people have clearly known about the epidemic, complied with epidemic prevention measures, and ensured home isolation according to regulations. At the time of the outbreak, Cham Puong village had 784 people present in the area. In the past 4 days, the authorities have taken samples for testing for 744 people; as for 40 people working on the fields in the remote mountains, on the morning of July 16, the police - health forces sent a working group up the mountain to invite them down to the area near the village, take quick test samples, and ask them to sign a commitment to quarantine in huts on the fields for 21 days, temporarily not returning to the village to prevent the epidemic.

To vigorously prevent the epidemic, the district is expanding the investigation, tracing, and searching for related people in two adjacent villages of Luong Minh commune, Minh Thanh and Minh Tien, and both cases in Hoa Binh town. Through rapid testing and screening of 52 samples, no cases have yet been found to be positive. Currently, the district is taking samples for the second test for all related people.

Don't let people starve

At this time, Tuong Duong district has been implementing well the solutions to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic, such as: tightening the management of the medical quarantine area of ​​​​Cham Puong village with the motto "House to house, person to person, village to village"; ensuring epidemic prevention work according to the motto "4 on-site"; at the same time providing adequate food and necessities for people in the blockade and quarantine areas.

Regarding forces, we have mobilized medical forces, police, military, militia and self-defense forces of the district and Luong Minh commune to deploy forces to prevent the epidemic. Regarding means, Tuong Duong has sent 2 ambulances from the Medical Center to the commune to serve the epidemic prevention work, transport patients for treatment, and transport F1 to centralized quarantine. Regarding on-site command, we have also established an anti-epidemic command post located right in Cham Puong village, headed by a Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, with the participation of leaders of the Police and the District Military Command. Regarding on-site logistics, Tuong Duong has propagated and mobilized people in the district to bring food and provisions to 190 households in the blockade area; providing enough food and necessities.

Mr. Phan Duc Son - Chairman of Tuong Duong District People's Committee

With the motto of "resolutely not letting people go hungry", to better meet the people's basic needs, Tuong Duong district has assigned the district Fatherland Front Committee to be the focal point to receive, distribute and ensure appropriate distribution of food, foodstuffs and relief goods. The district Fatherland Front Committee has called on 17 communes and towns of the district, each locality to provide 1 day of food for the Cham Puong people - Mr. Phan Duc Son clearly stated.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long - Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province inspected the epidemic prevention work in Cham Puong village. Photo: Thanh Cuong

On the morning of July 16, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long - Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province inspected the epidemic prevention work in Cham Puong village. The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee acknowledged and highly appreciated the participation of the entire political system of Tuong Duong district in fighting the epidemic; expressed his belief that Tuong Duong will soon control the epidemic. Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long also noted that "the district must ensure food for people in the quarantined area, not let people go hungry, if there are difficulties, the province is ready to continue to support Tuong Duong district".

It can be said that Cham Puong is one of the poorest villages in Tuong Duong district. Meanwhile, Tuong Duong is still one of the three poorest mountainous districts in the province. Despite many efforts, it is clear that the resources to fight the epidemic in Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province are very limited. More than ever, the people of Cham Puong in particular and Tuong Duong in general still need the joint efforts and contributions to fight the Covid-19 epidemic from all levels, sectors, organizations and philanthropists. Those who are devoted to Cham Puong, Tuong Duong, please contact Mr. Luong Ba Vin - Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Tuong Duong district. Phone number 0916.846.969.