Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam: We must 'weave more' to make the screening net thicker

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam: "Up to this moment, we have been able to maintain a peaceful Tet in new conditions." Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Dr. Dang Quang Tan - Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine said that in the past 14 days, 12/13 provinces (except Hai Duong) have been showing a downward trend in daily cases. Initially, an average of 15 cases were recorded per day, but now the number of daily cases has decreased by 50%, with some times only 1 to 2 cases recorded per day.

During the past 4 days of Tet holiday (from February 10, 2021 to present), a total of 72 domestic cases have been recorded in 7/13 provinces and cities including: Hai Duong (56), Quang Ninh (6), Gia Lai (5), Hanoi (2), Ho Chi Minh (1), Bac Ninh (1) and Bac Giang (1); the cases were recorded mainly in Hai Duong (accounting for 77.8%), Quang Ninh (8.3%) and Gia Lai (2.8%).

The new cases in the above provinces and cities are cases that have been quarantined, with little possibility of spreading to the community. Most of them have identified the source of infection related to the outbreak in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh. In particular, the outbreak at Tan Son Nhat airport has been basically controlled, with drastic epidemic prevention solutions; since the time of recording 29 cases (February 8), the highest number in a day in Ho Chi Minh City, it has been 5 days since the city recorded only 1 to 2 cases a day.

There are 6 provinces and cities that have not recorded any new cases in recent days, including: Hai Phong (16 days), Hoa Binh (13 days), Dien Bien (9 days), Ha Giang (9 days), Binh Duong (8 days) and Hung Yen (5 days).

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son reports online on the epidemic situation in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

HCMC: Weaving a thicker screening net

At the Ho Chi Minh City end, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Minister of Health reported: Up to this point, from the cluster of cases at Tan Son Nhat airport, the health sector has discovered 36 infected cases. Ho Chi Minh City has tested over 5,000 close contacts, most of them negative. At the same time, screening tests were also conducted in key areas with a lot of people passing by, a total of more than 4,800 samples were taken, over 2,000 samples were negative, the rest are waiting for results.

Regarding the virus variant causing the cluster of cases at Tan Son Nhat Airport, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that the actual developments in Ho Chi Minh City show that there is no evidence that this strain has the ability to spread quickly. “Therefore, after reviewing and analyzing research results, hypotheses, and implemented measures, the Ministry of Health concluded that the epidemic situation in Ho Chi Minh City is basically under control with strong measures (zoning, isolation, blockade, and large-scale testing). The Ministry still recommends that the City expand the testing area, especially in industrial zones, this is also a general recommendation for localities. We still have to continue to conduct large-scale screening, scanning all suspected areas, the more samples are collected, the more secure we are, and be prepared for worse situations,” said Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.

After listening to in-depth analysis of the causes and forecasting possibilities to find the source of the outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that we have more information suspecting that this virus variant entered through contact between some Tan Son Nhat airport staff and mechanics and employees of cargo flights from some countries with this variant to Vietnam (the staff and mechanics of airlines landing at Tan Son Nhat airport only stayed on the plane and did not enter the country). However, we also cannot rule out the possibility of the pathogen entering the airport from outside.

“Therefore, we must continue to quickly trace, isolate areas; analyze the virus, to forecast, find the source of infection; and treat,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized, noting that Ho Chi Minh City is a large locality, so the wide-area screening net must be “woven further” to be thicker.

Production must be safe

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and members of the Steering Committee listened to leaders of Hai Duong, Quang Ninh provinces and Hanoi City report directly via phone.

Vice Chairman of Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee Luong Van Cau said that so far the province has completely controlled the epidemic situation in Chi Linh City and Kinh Mon Town. All new infections are in quarantine areas and blockade points, with no possibility of spreading to the community. Some places have lifted the blockade and quarantine.

Cam Giang district is the most concerning place because this locality has many workers working in industrial zones. However, so far, all new infections are F1, and have been quarantined. Regarding the outbreak in this area, the leaders of the Ministry of Health noted that localities must require people coming from Cam Giang to make a health declaration. The local Centers for Disease Control (CDC) must take samples for testing and screen related people.

“Districts and towns in the province are fighting the epidemic with great spirit and determination. Hai Duong province will continue to tighten the blockade areas; coordinate with the army to strictly manage F1 quarantine cases (considered as F0),” said Mr. Luong Van Cau.

Hai Duong is also developing an inter-sectoral plan to implement SARS-CoV-2 screening tests for all officials, workers, and employees at enterprises in industrial parks, prioritizing sample collection at enterprises in epidemic areas such as industrial parks in Chi Linh City, Cam Giang District, etc. Factories, workshops, and workers must ensure safety in epidemic prevention before continuing production.

Reporting to the Deputy Prime Minister, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Chu Xuan Dung said that on the first and second days of Tet, the city had one infected case each day, all of which were F1s who had been quarantined before. Therefore, there was no possibility of community transmission. Up to now, Hanoi has tested more than 12,000 samples at Noi Bai airport, all of which were negative.

“Up to now, Hanoi has controlled the epidemic well and will continue to tighten the work of preventing and fighting the epidemic,” the Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee affirmed.

Vice Chairwoman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hanh said that since the 29th of Tet, the entire province has strictly maintained a 24/7 duty schedule to prevent the epidemic. Tens of thousands of people have been encouraged not to return to their hometowns for Tet.

The province has proactively screened and tested more than 73,000 samples, focusing on high-risk cases to screen and detect COVID-19 infections early. Currently, Quang Ninh has controlled the epidemic well. Up to this point, the total number of cases traced in the province is 104,233. Of which, 38,310 cases are related to the outbreak in Van Don; 65,923 cases are related to the outbreak in Hai Duong.

“Quang Ninh has controlled the epidemic well and is continuing to take drastic measures to prevent it,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam reminded localities to continue tightening epidemic prevention work, always be ready, not to be negligent or subjective, when the whole country returns to work after Tet holiday. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Happy New Year in the new normal

After listening to the report of the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee and the opinions of the localities, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam highly appreciated the efforts of the localities, especially the localities with infected cases, during the recent Tet holidays, which tried to strictly implement the professional requirements of the Ministry of Health. "Up to now, we have kept a peaceful Tet in the new conditions," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the medical staff, military officers, police, and forces on duty from the provincial level to residential areas who have done a very good job in epidemic prevention. Thanks to that, up to now, according to the report of the Standing Steering Committee and direct reports from a number of provinces, we have basically controlled the epidemic well. All new infections are in quarantine and blockade areas, with no risk of spreading to the community.

CDC staff check test results of samples of suspected COVID-19 patients. Photo: Thanh Cuong

However, “we must not lose vigilance, we must continue!”, emphasizing this, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that localities continue to strictly manage borders, regularly check and control concentrated quarantine areas, especially quarantine areas for people entering the country by road.

From the recent outbreak, the Deputy Prime Minister requested all provinces to learn from experience and be ready for situations where outbreaks are detected in crowded places and quarantine must be carried out immediately, as in the case of the outbreak at the POYUN factory with about 3,000 people. “Not a single hour or minute must be wasted and quarantine must be completely safe,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, experience from the recent epidemic shows that after the outbreak is detected, testing capacity is very important. Therefore, in the coming time, the Standing Steering Committee and the Ministry of Health must guide provinces and cities to be ready in terms of testing capacity, meeting the speed of tracing and sampling right from the first days; apply the mechanism of hiring services, placing orders or assigning tasks to units and enterprises with sufficient testing capacity according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health.

Once again, the Deputy Prime Minister called on people to always be vigilant and strictly follow the Ministry of Health's 5K message, especially wearing masks. Reality shows that wearing masks, including cloth masks licensed for production by the Ministry of Health, is effective in preventing the virus. Provinces continue to punish people who go out in public without wearing masks.

“After the Tet holiday, when returning to work, localities must strengthen direction for all medical facilities, schools, production, business, service establishments, factories, enterprises, trade centers, markets, supermarkets, wharves, etc. to strictly implement epidemic prevention regulations, conduct periodic self-assessments, and update the epidemic prevention map (antoancovid.vn) operate in the spirit of safety and be responsible to authorities at all levels," said the Deputy Prime Minister.