People who stay up all night for Vinh city's peace

Last night of June, more than half a month has passedVinh cityThe first case of Covid-19 appeared. That was also the time when the whole city of Vinh was sleepless. At the checkpoints hastily set up on the road, in the scorching heat of Nghe An noon, the heat rose up. Even though it was late at night, the sun had set, and a little wind blew by, it could not dispel the stifling, hot air that had been baking all day.

Vinh during the epidemic seemed to go to bed early, the streets were deserted and deep. Only medical staff were on duty to take rapid test samples.Covid-19is still working diligently at night when a new infection is discovered.

At the newly established blockade posts, officers, soldiers, and community shock troops worked tirelessly, quickly making lists and grasping the area to serve the tracing work.

Taking samples for testing at night when a Covid-19 case is detected in the community. Photo: Tien Dong

I met Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ngo, block leader of block 4, Quan Bau ward, right in front of the block's Cultural House. It was late at night but he was still diligently checking one last time the list of people going to Vinh wholesale market when the outbreak appeared there. As a member of the Covid-19 epidemic prevention team in the community, Mr. Ngo said that at this time, no one wants their block, hamlet, ward or commune to have a Covid-19 case. When a Covid-19 case appeared, the block also determined to stay calm and organize thorough tracing. Even if I had to lose sleep, if the block was peaceful, it was a good thing.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ngo, block leader of block 4, Quan Bau ward, diligently checked one last time the list of people going to Vinh wholesale market. Photo by Tien Dong

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Quang - Deputy Chief of Quan Bau Ward Police, on duty at the entrance to Block 4, Quan Bau Ward, shared: For more than half a month now, the ward police force of 15 officers and soldiers has been continuously mobilized to the checkpoints, from Ha Huy Tap Ward to Hung Dung Ward, then spread out to the checkpoints at the city's gateway. Now, when hearing the news that there is a Covid-19 case in the ward, they were immediately mobilized back.

Despite the hardship, no one complained. Quan Bau Ward quickly set up 8 checkpoints to block off the area where the infected case appeared.

At night, officers and soldiers on duty at the checkpoint cannot rest as there are still many people and vehicles passing by. Photo: Tien Dong

At the Ma Bridge checkpoint on Highway 46 in Hung Chinh commune, although it was late at night, there were still vehicles passing through. The vehicles passing through this checkpoint were mainly trucks carrying materials to Vinh bypass.

National Highway 46 is the main road leading to Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, so there are quite a lot of vehicles passing through. To help people update the situation and avoid wasting time traveling, the task force here also printed regulations and instructions for vehicles allowed to pass through the checkpoint on A0 paper and posted it on the bulletin board placed at the barrier.

Lieutenant Nguyen Doan Huy - officer of the Provincial Traffic Police Department on duty at Ma bridge checkpoint

Soldiers on duty at Cau Ma checkpoint pull up barriers for vehicles carrying doctors and nurses from the field hospital to return to the city after a tiring day of work. Photo: Tien Dong

The working days at the checkpoint of Lieutenant Huy and his teammates are usually divided into 4 shifts, each shift is 6 hours. After finishing their shift, they return to the unit's base in Nghi Kim to rest. His wife and children are in Thai Hoa town, for more than a month now, Huy and many other teammates have not been able to return home, only meeting each other by phone.

When I was about to leave the checkpoint, I saw the lights of a car approaching from afar. Mr. Huy told me that it was a car carrying doctors and nurses on duty at the hospital.Field hospital in Hung NguyenReturning to the city. Standing to greet the passing convoy, Huy and a young comrade from the CSCĐ Regiment seemed silent. He said, "Since the outbreak of the epidemic, perhaps they were the last ones to return to the city, when everyone was fast asleep."

The car slowly passed through the Ma bridge checkpoint, I caught sight of the police officers standing at attention as a thank you to the medical team who are working hard day and night at the epicenter, in the car, a young doctor waved goodbye. That was enough to warm the hearts of the soldiers on duty late at night. Photo: Tien Dong

Leaving Cau Ma checkpoint, I went down to the checkpoint located on Highway 72M, connecting Nghi Duc Commune (Vinh City) with Nghi Phong Commune (Nghi Loc). Here, although the traffic was thinning out, the soldiers still did not leave the checkpoint. They sat together on duty, waiting for the night to pass.

Talking to me, Captain Mai Xuan Kieu - an officer of the Traffic Police Department - Vinh City Police Department shared that both his family and his wife are in the same industry, his wife works in Cua Lo Town, for more than a month now, when the first case appeared in Ha Tinh, 100% of the staff had to be on duty so both husband and wife could not go home. Their two children, 9 years old and 6 years old, were sent to their grandparents' house who are now old.

Pointing towards Nghi Phong commune, Mr. Kieu said that his grandparents' house was not far away. One day, his grandfather cycled his grandchild to the checkpoint so that father and son could see each other for a bit before returning. Looking at his son from afar, his heart ached.

Captain Mai Xuan Kieu took advantage of a rare break to video call home to see his son who was staying at his grandparents' house. Photo: Tien Dong

Tien Dong