Absolutely do not be subjective before the epidemic changes in Nghe An

Hotspots narrow, green zones expand

So far, the waveCovid-19 epidemicThe 4th phase in Nghe An can be divided into 3 phases. The first phase is from May 6, 2021 to June 12, 2021; the second phase is from June 13, 2021 to July 12, 2021; the third phase is from July 13, 2021 to present... In each of these phases, the epidemic level and the number of infections are constantly increasing. If in the first phase, Nghe An only had 5 infections (1 community case, 4 cases detected in quarantine areas), then from the second and third phases, the whole province has recorded 1,775 patients (data up to the morning of September 10) with Covid-19 in 21 districts, cities and towns.

The Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province inspects and directs Covid-19 prevention and control work. Photo: Document

Faced with that situation, Nghe An has implemented many effective measures such as: Social distancing and isolation; investigation and tracing; large-scale sampling and testing; medical isolation and treatment for patients; Covid-19 vaccination... The entire political system has been active, enthusiastic, and responsible in carrying out the task. The people of the province have truly united, supported, and accompanied the work of epidemic prevention and control. Each ward and commune has truly been a fortress; each person has truly been an anti-epidemic soldier.

Epidemiological map in Nghe An on September 9. Photo by Thanh Chung

Thanks to the drastic, synchronous and correct implementation of solutions, the epidemic prevention and control work in Nghe An has been changing and achieving positive results. Since the peak on August 14 (Vinh City had a resurgence of the epidemic), the number of infected cases has gradually decreased after about 3 weeks of drastic and synchronous implementation of measures, especially reducing the number of cases in the community. In addition, the number of cured cases has also increased rapidly (with 891 people cured). The whole province has gone from having 14 localities implementing Directive 16 (Vinh City alone has implemented more than Directive 16), 7 localities implementing Directive 15 of the Prime Minister, to now only 7 localities implementing Directive 16, 3 localities implementing Directive 15 and 11 localities implementing Directive 19, returning to the new normal state.

As of September 10, 2021, Nghe An only has a few "hot spots" such as: Vinh City (red zone - very high risk); Cua Lo town, Dien Chau district, Hung Nguyen district, Nam Dan district, Nghi Loc district (orange zone - high risk); Do Luong district, Yen Thanh district (yellow zone - moderate risk). And within each "hot spot", the epidemic situation also has many positive changes.

Many severe Covid-19 patients have been cured. Photo: Thanh Chung

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health said: "In Vinh city alone, through 4 times of large-scale screening, 114 F0 cases have been detected. The "hot spots" in Vinh city have been clearly identified and gradually narrowed. Currently, the health sector and Vinh city are evaluating and considering to continue taking samples for testing in 3 blocks in Vinh Tan and Le Loi wards and the entire Hung Chinh commune to completely separate F0 cases from the community."

As for Cua Lo town, with its proactive anti-epidemic measures, the locality has conducted two large-scale tests and detected quite a few cases. Green areas in the town have also been expanded and firmly protected. Nghi Thuy ward, in particular, has a large number of traders and is related to many outbreaks at markets in the province, so it is necessary to continue screening and testing... Localities such as Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau and Nam Dan have recently seen some cases in the community, however, they have been promptly controlled and prevented from spreading. Do Luong and Yen Thanh districts have not had any new cases in the community for many days.

Taking samples for Covid-19 screening in Cua Lo town. Photo: Thanh Chung

According to the assessment of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center, although there have been many positive changes, there is still a potential risk of infection in localities in the province. All levels, sectors, and the political and social system need to continue to actively and synchronously participate, pay close attention to monitoring the fluctuations of the epidemic, as well as strictly control cases traveling to and from epidemic areas...

Cannot be lax, subjective...

In addition to positive changes, the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in Nghe An province still faces many difficulties. The most obvious is that the prolonged epidemic has greatly affected production, business activities, and socio-economic development of the province. Resources for ensuring epidemic prevention and control are still difficult and limited. There are still cases of people returning to epidemic areas but not declaring; the management of these people still has many shortcomings.

The management of centralized quarantine and home quarantine is still limited. There is a situation of cross-infection in centralized quarantine areas and from quarantine areas to service staff in some localities. Information and communication work on disease prevention and control in mountainous districts is inadequate and difficult due to many objective reasons. Human resources, medical equipment, treatment facilities, quarantine facilities, testing work... still have many difficulties and limitations.

Nghe An has done a good job in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo courtesy

Also due to those difficulties, some localities in the province still have and will continue to record community infections and the risk of the epidemic spreading continues to exist.

For example, Que Phong district: Just one day after this locality ended social distancing according to Directive 15/CT-TTg to prevent and control the epidemic, two new groups of infections appeared in Tri Le commune and Muong Noc commune.

The infection group in Lien Hop village, Tri Le commune, includes 5 cases in 1 family, discovered on the afternoon of September 6. This infection group had close contact with many people; had connections with many people in a large area of ​​3 districts Que Phong, Tuong Duong and Ky Son. The functional forces of Que Phong district have identified at least 155 F1 cases, including 35 high-risk F1...

The second group of infections includes 3 cases, a mother and her child, living in Phong Quang hamlet, Muong Noc commune; discovered on the afternoon of September 7. Investigation and tracing showed that the infected case's travel history was related to many communes and towns in the district due to the nature of their occupation of trading forestry and agricultural products.

Setting up a checkpoint to prevent Covid-9 in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district. Photo: Thanh Chung

Notably, up to now, the source of infection for these people has not been clearly identified. According to the assessment of the Nghe An Health Department: It is very likely that there is at least 1 other intermediary person spreading the disease that the authorities have not been able to find... Que Phong district has more than 7,000 citizens working in other provinces and abroad. From April 27, 2021 to now, more than 2,000 people have returned to their locality to avoid the epidemic. Of these, up to 40 people were found to be infected with Covid-19 during the quarantine period in the locality. In addition, there is 1 case in Chau Kim commune, after returning to the locality, did not go to declare to be quarantined immediately but went home for 1 day and came into contact with many people. After being quarantined and tested, this person was confirmed to be infected with Covid-19.

Faced with the developments of the Covid-19 epidemic in Que Phong district. On the morning of September 9, Que Phong District Medical Center continued to collect samples for people in high-risk areas. Regarding 2 Covid-19 cases in Phong Quang hamlet, Muong Noc commune, due to complicated travel schedules, traveling to many places. In order to promptly isolate and contain the epidemic, Que Phong district decided to collect samples and conduct rapid testing on a large scale for people in Phong Quang, Hai Lam and Trung Son hamlets, Muong Noc commune. It is expected that 1,500 people will be sampled for testing. To support Que Phong medical staff, Quy Chau District Medical Center also sent 33 officers, nurses and doctors from the center to support. Previously, the District Medical Center also collected samples for small traders at Kim Son market and Phong Quang hamlet.

After 1 day of stopping social distancing, 2 new Covid-19 infection groups appeared in Que Phong district. Photo: Thanh Chung

In order for the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in the new situation in Nghe An to achieve the highest efficiency, comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Commander of the Center for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province stated: "Localities must continue to strictly implement regulations on epidemic prevention and control according to the direction of the Central Government, the Government, the Prime Minister and the province; synchronously and promptly deploy epidemic prevention and control measures, while paying attention to ensuring social security, security and order in the area; based on regulations on risk levels to proactively identify risk zones according to levels and have appropriate solutions".

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also emphasized that localities must maximize the role of community Covid-19 teams and self-management teams in the area in managing and closely monitoring changes in people's residence and stay, and vehicles entering and leaving the area; direct the organization so that all people participate in signing a commitment to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic; strengthen inspection and supervision of epidemic prevention and control work; develop plans and schemes to organize Covid-19 vaccination campaigns to ensure safety; strengthen communication work to raise people's awareness and actions...