Deputy Minister of Health works with leaders of Nghe An province on Covid-19 prevention and control

On the morning of June 20, a working delegation of the Ministry of Health led by Deputy Minister Do Xuan Tuyen had a working session with the People's Committee of Nghe An province on Covid-19 prevention and control.

Working with the delegation, on the side of Military Region 4, there was Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Commander of Military Region 4. On the side of the Provincial People's Committee, there were comrades: Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control; Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control. Photo: Pham Bang

FOCUSING RESOLUTIONALLY AND SYNCHRONOUSLY ON EPIDEMIC PREVENTION AND CONTROL

Since April 27, Nghe An province has recorded 31 cases. Since June 13, the province has recorded 26 new cases of Covid-19 in the community (Vinh City: 16 cases; Dien Chau: 8 cases; Tan Ky: 1 case; Quy Hop: 1 case). Since June 13, the province has collected 14,106 samples. The total number of citizens in quarantine and health monitoring in the province is 25,586 cases.

The Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control affirmed that the epidemic prevention work has received special attention and drastic direction from the Provincial Party Committee; the timely and effective participation of the entire political system, the trust, solidarity and support of the people; especially the sense of responsibility and high efforts of functional forces at the front line.

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health, Deputy Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control reported on Covid-19 prevention and control work in the area. Photo: Pham Bang

The province has focused on drastically implementing a system of synchronous and appropriate solutions to control the epidemic and best protect the health and lives of the people. The epidemic prevention measures have been implemented promptly and effectively and have achieved many positive results, which have been recognized and highly appreciated by the people.

The province has established a system to receive and treat Covid-19 patients at 5 provincial facilities and 19 district facilities with 350 beds. The province is urgently repairing and adding items so that Field Hospital No. 1 at Hung Nguyen District Medical Center with a scale of 100 beds is ready to serve the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

Currently, the province has 7 rooms capable of testing for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR technology with a maximum capacity of about 33,500 samples/day; the ability to collect more than 200,000 samples/day, and the capacity to quarantine the whole province for about 10,000 people.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen inspects PCR testing work in the province. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding vaccination, as of May 26, the whole province had 24,710 people vaccinated. Currently, the province has deployed the second vaccination campaign with an allocated number of 16,100 doses, with a capacity of about 10,000 doses/day to the district level. The activity is expected to be completed before June 25.

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health, commented that the Covid-19 epidemic situation in the province, especially in Vinh City, has many potential risks and is complicated. The reason is that Nghe An has a large area, and many Nghe An people live in epidemic areas. Besides, there are still many F0 cases whose source of infection has not been identified.

Comrade Tran Nhu Duong - Deputy Director of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology spoke at the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

Nghe An province proposed that the Central Government prioritize early vaccine supply for the province; support 2 ECMO machines, 2 continuous blood filtration machines and some ventilators; support SARS-CoV-2 testing biological products, especially rapid antigen tests; support materials for the province to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic.

At the meeting, members of the Ministry of Health's working delegation requested Nghe An province to implement many measures in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic such as: Screening people with respiratory symptoms and illness, taking rapid test samples immediately; relying on the community to prevent and fight the epidemic with a practical and long-term perspective; applying IT in testing and returning samples.

Comrade Nguyen Thi Lien Huong - Director of the Department of Medical Environment Management spoke at the inspection. Photo: Pham Bang

The delegation members also requested Nghe An province to send positive samples to the Central Government for gene sequencing to serve the tracing work; rapidly test at least 20% of high-risk subjects in enterprises and industrial parks; expand and increase quarantine areas; and develop response scenarios when the number of infections reaches 300 cases.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh - Commander of Military Region 4 said that the Military Region has proactively prepared to build a field hospital when required. Military Region 4 is also actively deploying the necessary conditions for cold storage, vehicles, and human resources to transport Covid-19 vaccines. At the same time, he requested Nghe An to coordinate with Military Region 4 to effectively carry out propaganda work, develop plans for vaccine transportation, and tracing.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh - Commander of Military Region 4 spoke at the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

MOBILIZING THE ENTIRE POLITICAL SYSTEM

Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung affirmed that the province is currently basically controlling the Covid-19 epidemic situation in the area. Over the past time, the province has made great efforts to prevent and control the epidemic with a drastic, strong, and timely spirit... in accordance with the direction of the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Government, the National Steering Committee and the Ministry of Health. After 4 outbreaks, the first 3 outbreaks of the province's epidemic prevention and control results were very good.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that the province has developed scenarios and plans to deal with possible epidemic situations. The province has also applied strong measures, appropriate to the actual situation, to try to control and prevent the epidemic from spreading widely. However, in the practical implementation of the measures, the province has also encountered certain difficulties.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

Emphasizing the complicated nature of the Covid-19 epidemic in the coming time, comrade Nguyen Duc Trung affirmed that the province will proactively control complicated areas and infected cases to control and contain the epidemic. The provincial Covid-19 prevention and control steering committee has activated the highest level of epidemic prevention and control, requiring all political systems at all levels to participate in a timely, drastic, synchronous, and people-based spirit, promoting the role of community Covid-19 teams, and applying the 4-on-the-spot motto.

The province will continue to strictly implement measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic with a proactive and drastic spirit. At the same time, it will continue to update epidemic prevention and control scenarios when the epidemic becomes complicated, paying special attention to epidemic prevention work at business establishments and industrial parks. The province will actively coordinate with the Ministry of Health, Military Region 4, and related units to deploy the Covid-19 vaccination campaign on schedule and with the highest efficiency.

EFFECTIVELY PROMOTING THE ROLE OF "COMMUNITY COVID TEAM"

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that from now until the end of the year, the whole country will launch a Covid-19 vaccination campaign, striving to have over 70% of the country's population vaccinated to ensure community immunity. However, because some types of vaccines have strict regulations on storage and use, it is necessary to fully prepare the conditions to receive and use the vaccines effectively.

Comrade Do Xuan Tuyen - Deputy Minister of Health concluded the working session. Photo: Pham Bang

In response to that request, the Deputy Minister of Health requested Nghe An province to prepare sufficient human resources, materials, and means, develop an allocation plan, and coordinate with vaccination units on schedule. The Deputy Minister also discussed the latest instructions from the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic, specifically in isolation, treatment, and testing.

Sharing the difficulties in the epidemic prevention and control work of Nghe An province, comrade Do Xuan Tuyen requested the province to train and disseminate to the commune level, to the functional sectors to update the epidemic risk map of the province, connect with the National Steering Committee. Clearly assign people, tasks, responsibilities, take direct and comprehensive responsibility in directing the prevention and control of Covid-19 epidemic in each locality, area, and residential area.

Promote the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, unions, socio-political organizations, and religious dignitaries in epidemic prevention and control. Promote the role of "Community Covid Teams" and inter-family teams in the spirit of "going to every alley, knocking on every door, checking every subject", each team is in charge of 30-50 families. Launch a nationwide movement to detect high-risk cases.

Nghe An province strictly implements social distancing, but does not "block rivers or ban markets". Photo: Archive.

Regarding epidemic prevention and control measures, the Deputy Minister of Health said that when a case is detected, the area must be wide but the isolation and blockade must be narrow to ensure conditions for socio-economic development. In the blockade area, isolation must be strictly implemented, with close supervision. The province must pay close attention to epidemic prevention work in workers' dormitories and hospitals, because these are places with a very high risk of cross-infection.

In addition, the province also needs to increase the RT-PCR testing capacity to 70,000 samples/day, increase the treatment capacity to 500 cases, improve the isolation capacity, apply IT to treatment and medical supervision. Regarding the construction of field hospitals, it should be allocated reasonably and requisitioned from existing medical facilities. The Provincial General Hospital has been recognized as the final line, as a regional hospital, it must increase the capacity to treat severe patients. In particular, the epidemic must not occur in Party and State agencies, headquarters of the Public Security and Military agencies, hospitals, businesses, and other crowded places.

The Health Sector Trade Union presents gifts to the epidemic prevention force in Nghe An province. Photo: Pham Bang

On this occasion, the Health Sector Trade Union presented Nghe An province with 77 million VND (including 50 million VND in cash and 50 health insurance cards worth 27 million VND for the province's frontline anti-epidemic forces)./.