Building a solution to transition to a 'safe, flexible, and effective epidemic control' state

On the afternoon of September 28, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center held a meeting to deploy epidemic prevention and control measures in the coming time. Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee, Commander of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center chaired the meeting.

Overview of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center. Photo: Pham Bang

BUILD A PLAN TO RETURN CITIZENS HOME BY COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS

As of 7am on September 28, Nghe An recorded 1,823 Covid-19 patients in 21 localities, of which 1,751 cases have recovered and 17 cases have died. Since September 25, 4 new cases have been recorded.Community infections. Regarding these infections, 366 related cases have been quarantined and tested.

Regarding vaccination, 414,042 people (about 12.2% of the population; 17.2% of people over 18 years old) have received the first dose.Of which, 90,140 people received 2 doses (about 2.65% of the population; 3.75% of people over 18 years old). In the coming time, the health sector will accelerate vaccination based on the number of vaccines allocated, especially prioritizing vaccination for people over 50 years old.

Director of the Department of Health Duong Dinh Chinh speaks at the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

Although the epidemic situation in the area has stabilized, according to Director of the Department of Health Duong Dinh Chinh, the risk of an epidemic is always latent, it can penetrate from other localities and break out at any time, especially in Vinh City. Therefore, people are encouraged to regularly get tested to ensure the health of themselves, their families and the community (especially for those with unusual symptoms such as fever, cough, difficulty breathing, etc.).

Regarding the situation of welcoming Nghe An citizens in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces back to their hometowns, the province has so far welcomed 2,121 people by air; 187 people by road. In addition, 81,967 people spontaneously traveled back to their hometowns by various means. On average, each day at Ben Thuy 2 bridge checkpoint, about 30-70 people spontaneously returned to their hometowns.

Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Hong Vu reports on the draft plan to welcome citizens back. Photo: Pham Bang

Currently, there are still many citizens who want to return to their hometowns, including many who went to the South to visit relatives but were stuck. Most of these citizens have received 1-2 doses of vaccine. If there is no organization to welcome them, many people will continue to spontaneously move back to their hometowns in many forms, making it difficult to control the epidemic as well as organize quarantine.

On that basis, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is advising the Provincial People's Committee to allow the transport of citizens who need to return to their hometowns by air from Ho Chi Minh City and the Southern provinces, with a frequency of 1-2 flights/week, each flight carrying about 200 people via commercial flights. In particular, priority is given to pregnant women, children, students, people visiting relatives, working, or receiving medical treatment...

Major General Pham The Tung - Director of the Provincial Police Department requested strict control of people and vehicles entering the area. Photo: Pham Bang

At the meeting, members of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center analyzed, evaluated and gave opinions on the management of immigration; control of people and vehicles entering and passing through the province; vaccination work;... At the same time, they gave opinions on the plan to welcome citizens in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces to return to their hometowns.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh said that when moving to the new normal state, it is necessary to pay attention to vaccinating small traders and workers at enterprises. Sectors must coordinate to manage people and vehicles entering and leaving Vinh city, strictly manage delivery subjects and people working at construction sites.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh requested strict management of delivery subjects and workers at construction sites. Photo: Pham Bang

At the same time, it is necessary to strictly control passenger vehicles entering and passing through the area. Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long requested the sectors and localities to arrange only 1-2 rest stops on National Highway 1 passing through the province. At the same time, reactivate health management by household, strengthen the inspection of epidemic prevention and control work at pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals, thereby detecting cases early.

BUILDING A SAFE, FLEXIBLE, AND EFFECTIVE ADAPTIVE TRANSITION PLAN

Concluding the meeting, Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee, Commander of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center emphasized that the Covid-19 epidemic situation in the province is basically under control, the rate of new infections has decreased, and there have been no infections in the community for many days (except for community infections in Vinh City, but the risk of spreading is low).

To maintain and protect the results and achievements, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that in the coming time, it is necessary to continue to focus on implementing epidemic prevention and control measures at a higher and more strengthened level. Just a little relaxation, complacency, or negligence can cause the epidemic to break out, break out more strongly, making epidemic prevention and control work even more difficult.

Sectors and localities must implement more proactive and focused epidemic prevention measures, in accordance with the spirit of the Central Government, the Government, the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee, the guidance of the Ministry of Health; and the direction of the province in the spirit of transitioning to a new state of safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the epidemic, economic recovery and development.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee, Commander of the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center concluded the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

To effectively transition to the new state, the Steering Committee and the Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center at all levels must continue to update the epidemic prevention and control plan; have an epidemic prevention and control plan suitable for the new state. The province will issue a document guiding localities to effectively implement the transition to the 4-level state. On that basis, the health sector will concretize it into implementation measures, suitable for the actual situation of each locality and each area. Localities must also be proactive in terms of resources, human resources, and material resources according to the "4 on-site" motto.

Emphasizing that strict management of the area is an important measure in the work of preventing and fighting the epidemic, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested that in the new situation, this measure must be implemented with the motto: "The village protects the village, the commune protects the commune, the district protects the district, the province protects the province". In this work, it is necessary to manage population movements, enhance the role and promote the responsibility of the grassroots authorities, the community Covid Team, and the people.

In addition, maintain checkpoints to control people and vehicles entering and leaving the province; combine with software and IT applications to implement this work, "but must not create congestion, not create inconvenience or difficulty for people". Each locality should arrange a centralized rest stop, and recommend long-distance vehicles to do so when passing through the province, in order to strictly control and prevent the spread of the epidemic.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that in the coming time, when F0 cases are detected, the plan to isolate, block, and trace in the fastest, narrowest, and most flexible way will be implemented to handle the situation effectively, preventing the spread of infection to the community. The organization of screening tests and separation of F0 from the community needs attention. In particular, it is necessary to select priority areas, fields, and subjects for effective implementation.

Leaders of Nghe An Department of Health inspect the sample collection and testing work. Photo: Thanh Chung

Implement a plan to vaccinate safely and effectively as soon as vaccines are allocated; step up propaganda so that people understand the Prime Minister's spirit: "The best vaccine is the vaccine that is vaccinated earliest". Priority is given to workers, traders, people working in the transport sector, and people over 50 years old.

Based on the proposal of the Department of Health, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decided to stop the operations of Field Hospitals No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6; Transfer the remaining Covid-19 patients to Field Hospital No. 3 for treatment; Focus on implementing the construction of a Field Hospital in Area A of the Provincial General Hospital and Traffic Hospital as a treatment facility for seriously ill patients with 150 beds.

To effectively implement measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic, it is necessary to strengthen the inspection and supervision of localities, facilities and units in the province. Inspection and supervision from the leadership, direction and implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures must be carried out in a sudden and unexpected spirit. This task must be done regularly, especially in markets, shopping centers, hospitals, educational and training facilities, and production facilities with a large concentration of workers.

Regarding production and business activities, the head of the Provincial People's Committee said that when moving to a new state, it is necessary to ensure requirements for Covid-19 prevention and control. This work has been guided and directed by all levels and sectors, but must be controlled to be implemented effectively in the spirit of: "Production must be safe, safe for production". Such as prioritizing vaccination, organizing screening tests; checking and supervising the organization of production activities.

Strengthen and further enhance communication work to warn of the risks and dangers of new variants of the Covid-19 epidemic so that people can proactively prevent and fight the epidemic and strictly implement measures deployed by Party committees and authorities.

Nghe An province is developing a plan to welcome citizens on commercial flights back to their hometowns. In the photo: The flight welcoming citizens from Nghi Loc district arrived at Vinh airport on the afternoon of August 4. Photo courtesy

Regarding the work of welcoming citizens returning from Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said that in the immediate future, the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center will report and ask for opinions from the Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Steering Committee on welcoming citizens who have the need and conditions to pay for their own expenses to return through organizing commercial flights with airlines. To create fairness, airlines must be required to publicly disclose the costs of airfare, quarantine, testing, etc. for people to choose and register. The province will still strictly control the quarantine areas for these citizens.

For citizens who spontaneously return, the sectors and localities will continue to pay attention and support; expand and arrange appropriate centralized quarantine points for these subjects. The Transport sector will take the lead in organizing vehicles to transport citizens back to hand over to the localities./.