VIET NAM TO GO INTO 15-DAY NATIONWIDE SOCIAL DISTANCING TO CURB COVID-19

Viet Nam will begin nationwide social distancing within 15 days, starting 00:00 on April 1, with the principle of every household, village, commune, district and province going into self-isolation, according to the latest directive signed by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Accordingly, the people are told to stay at home and should only go out in case of extreme necessity, such as buying food, foodstuff and medicine; emergencies; working at factories, production establishments, facilities trading in essential services and goods that are not subject to provisional closure; and other emergency cases.

The Government leader also requested the strict observance of keeping an interpersonal distance of at least two meters and not gathering in groups of more than two people outside the workplace, schools and hospitals, and in public places.

He asked the people to abide by the epidemic prevention and control requirements and measures with self-awareness, actively participate in voluntary health declaration, fully implement measures to protect themselves and their families, and responsibly participate in prevention and control activities of functional agencies and the community.

The heads of enterprises, production establishments and traders of goods and services are responsible for applying epidemic prevention and control measures at their establishments to ensure the health and safety for workers.

The PM assigned the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Security, and the People’s Committees of Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City to mobilize all resources and measures to thoroughly handle the COVID-19 outbreaks at Bach Mai Hospital (Ha Noi) and the Buddha Bar (Ho Chi Minh City) in a speedy and resolute manner.

The units were also told to apply appropriate measures to all potential cases of infection from these outbreaks, while continuing to call on those who have contacts with these COVID-19 outbreaks to perform health declaration and contact medical establishments for testing.

The leader asked the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate with the health sector to make a list of people who are involved in the activities of Truong Sinh Company and are at risk of infection to apply proper medical surveillance, monitoring and isolation measures, and to thoroughly handle infection sources.

The People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities concerned need to work closely with ministries and the two major cities to well perform the task.

Regarding the performance of self-isolation at home and health declaration for classification, testing and concentrated isolation (if necessary) concerning those who have been to Bach Mai Hospital since March 12, 2020, the PM assigned grassroots authorities to organize close surveillance at each family.

According to the leader, the COVID-19 epidemic has broken out on a global scale, with over 720,000 confirmed cases of infection and nearly 35,000 deaths in over 200 countries and territories.

In Viet Nam, the number of cases is increasing rapidly day by day, with a high risk of community infection. The epidemic is expected to spread speedily on a large scale, producing serious threats to human life, human health and the national socio-economy.

Source: VGP