The Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Government Standing Committee on the implementation of Directive 16.

The Prime Minister chairs a regular Government meeting. Photo: VGP

According to the report of the National Steering Committee (as of 12:00 on April 13), the world recorded 1,853,183 cases in 212 countries and territories; 114,248 deaths. The US is the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic, with the highest number of cases and deaths among the 212 countries with the epidemic.

In Vietnam, 262 cases have been recorded, of which 10 cases were recorded at the outbreak in Ha Loi village, Me Linh, Hanoi; no new cases related to Bach Mai Hospital, Truong Sinh Company and Buddha bar have been recorded.

There are 144 cases that have recovered; 116 patients are being treated at 14 medical facilities; 3 patients are in serious condition (numbers 20, 91, 161), the British pilot patient's prognosis is severe and very difficult.

Vietnam also recorded 53 new cases from April 1-12, 2020 (only 40% of the number of cases compared to the previous 12 days). Some outbreaks have been basically controlled, such as: the outbreak related to Truong Sinh Company, Bach Mai Hospital (quarantine lifted since 0:00 on April 12, 2020) and Buddha Bar.

However, 24 new cases have been recorded in the community, notably 10 cases in Ha Loi village, Me Linh commune, Me Linh district, Hanoi. In the first 3 days of April, 13/24 cases were recorded in the community, but after that, only 1 to 2 cases were recorded per day until now.

Authorities set up a checkpoint in Ha Loi village, Me Linh district. Photo: VNE

Regarding the outbreak in Ha Loi village, Me Linh commune, Me Linh district, Hanoi Department of Health mobilized 15 rapid response teams to support zoning, isolation and sample collection from April 12, 2020, set up 9 control posts in the outbreak area, and isolated the entire Ha Loi village with 10,872 people (2,973 households) from April 8, 2020 to May 5, 2020 (28 days).

The Steering Committee believes that in the coming time, the government and people must strictly implement Directive No. 16 of the Prime Minister on social distancing, must not be negligent or subjective; must be steadfast with the proposed anti-epidemic strategy (prevention, detection, isolation, zoning, and suppression); early detection of infections in the community and consider them as potential outbreaks, immediately deploy isolation, zoning, and suppression measures, and prevent the epidemic from spreading from detected infections.

In addition, it is necessary to continue to "go to every alley, knock on every door, check every subject", perfect patient treatment regimens, update anti-epidemic plans and ensure resources (materials, equipment, human resources) for COVID-19 prevention and control.