Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Photo: VOV)

Chairing a government meeting on measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 on Friday, the Prime Minister urged for vigilance, “All levels and sectors, especially the health sector, should not be complacent and underestimate the importance of guidelines. We should do our best to prevent outbreaks from spreading in the community. The government has considered the COVID-19 fight a long battle. As long as there is no vaccine, it is acceptable to live with the epidemic with appropriate methods, ways, and behaviors.”

The Prime Minister also emphasized the dual goals of fighting epidemic and developing economy. He urged strengthening the testing system, improving the quality of testing, and encouraging people to come for testing.

He asked the health sector to think about early identification and diagnosis of COVID-19 risks and make the national health system prepared for any emergency situation. The health sector should continue to focus on high-risk groups such as people with underlying diseases and the elderly to minimize the death toll, the Prime Minister said.

Vietnam on Friday recorded two more COVID-19 patients in Da Nang. They are now being treated at Hoa Vang Field Hospital.

To date, Vietnam has had a total of 667 locally-transmitted cases. Of them 527 cases have been linked to the Da Nang outbreak since July 25. 25 people died and 545 others were cured.