Ensuring consistency, taking people and enterprises as center in Covid-19 fight

Currently, the situation of Covid-19 pandemic in the province is under control. In order to safely adapt and effectively control the pandemic under the Government’s Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP and the Ministry of Health’s Decision No. 4800/QD-BYT, Binh Duong's point of view is that Covid-19 regulations must be unified nationwide in order to create conditions for people to access health services as soon as possible without causing congestion for circulation and production.

Assessment of pandemic level under commune administrative units

To ensure national consistency, the Government has issued the Resolution 128/NQ-CP promulgating the Interim Regulation on “safe and flexible adaptation and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic”. Accordingly, the pandemic risk is classified into 4 levels as follows: Level 1:(low risk-new normal) - green; Level 2: (medium risk) - yellow; Level 3: (high risk) -orange); Level 4: (very high risk) - red.

People in Thuan An city get vaccinated against Covid-19

Vo Van Minh, Vice-Secretary of provincial Party Committee, Chairman of provincial People's Committee said under the Government’s Resolution No.128/NQ-CP and the Ministry of Health’s Decision No.4800/QDBYT, the province has set up a draft interim regulation on “safe and flexible adaptation and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic”. This draft regulation has a wide impact, greatly affecting people from strata, so it needs to be ensured closely and logically without overlap on contents. Therefore, provincial People's Committee has required departments, agencies and sectors to give contributive ideas to the draft regulation in accordance with their assigned functions and tasks. The province's point of view in implementing safe adaptation solutions is to ensure unified leadership, uphold the initiative and creativity of local authorities, take the people and enterprises as a center in Covid-19 prevention and control, in safe production, business and daily life. The province will closely follow the local real situation to consider and apply Covid-19 prevention and control measures to ensure the dual goals, but put people's health and life first. First of all, the province will create conditions for people to get access to healthcare services right from grassroots level, but cause congestion for circulation and production.

For classification of the level of pandemic risk, it must be assessed from communal level. The assessment from the smallest scale below communal level is encouraged to ensure flexibility and efficiency. Provincial People's Committee Chairman emphasized that safe and flexible adaptation solutions ensure the harmony between medical solutions with administrative, socio-economic issues, avoiding the situation of subjectivity, neglect and loss of vigilance or panic, anxiety, loss of composure leading to the application of extreme, inappropriate and inconsistent measures. Synchronous health solutions between isolation, testing, treatment and vaccines under the motto "isolation, testing are the key, vaccines and drugs are prerequisites" need to be realized.

Do not request Covid-19 testing for people’s travel

According to Prof. - Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Deputy Minister of Health, under the Ministry of Health’s Decision No.4800/QDBYT, Covid-19 tests are not required for people’s travel. They are only conducted for those from localities with the pandemic risk at level 4 or regional medical isolation (blockade) and suspected or indicated cases for epidemiological investigation from areas with the pandemic risk at level 3. For people who have got full two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and those recovered from the pandemic, they are only tested when there is a request for epidemiological investigation with medical isolation or medical monitoring and cases from pandemic-hit areas at level 4 or regional medical isolation (blockage). Localities will conduct Covid-19 testing to handle outbreaks, which is based on their risk factors and pandemic situation.

Especially, Covid-19 testing must be conducted for cases with symptoms of fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, loss of taste and smell, difficulty breathing... Random and periodic Covid-19 screening tests will be conducted in high-risk areas like healthcare facilities, wholesale markets, bus stations, supermarkets and for risk groups such as drivers, shippers... Production and business establishments, trade centers, supermarkets, State agencies and offices will also organize random SARS-CoV-2 tests for people at high risk of Covid-19 infection. In the "new normal" conditions, people need to uphold the role of "soldiers" in Covid-19 prevention and control to protect the health of themselves, their families and the community; regularly implement the "5K" message of the Ministry of Health, scan QR codes in the visiting places.  The travel of people from areas with different levels of the pandemic as well as treatment of F0 cases at home must comply with the guidance of the health sector.

Assessing the situation of the pandemic in the province, Mr. Minh said: "Currently, the situation of the pandemic in the province is under control. The number of new cases, hospitalized patients is decreasing while the number of patients being cured and discharged from hospital has kept increasing. Most outbreaks in the community have been controlled. The number of new cases was mainly detected in the blockade and isolation areas, accounting for more than 90% of the total number of daily infections. The number of people over 18 years old who received at least 1 shot of Covid-19 vaccine is 2,294,720, accounting for 96.37% of total and there are  955,421 people getting 2 full shots of vaccine, accounting for 42.89% of total. The province is setting up a plan on Covid-19 vaccination for children between 12 and 18 and is expected to complete vaccination for all people over 18 in December.”

For regulations on medical isolation of people from other localities to Binh Duong, Dr. Nguyen Hong Chuong, Director of provincial Department of Health said that under the Ministry of Health’s Decision No. 4800/QD-BYT on the temporary guidance for the implementation of the Government‘s Resolution No.128/NQ-CP, people from other provinces and cities returning to Binh Duong do not perform medical isolation; isolation is only carried out for people from pandemic-hit areas at level 4 or medical isolation areas, those having close contact with F1 cases under the current guidance of the Ministry of Health. For the elderly, people with underlying diseases, pregnant women, and those under 18 years old are isolated at home together with their caregivers.

Reported by Hoang Linh-Translated by Kim Tin