Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Photo: VGP)

Chairing an online meeting of the Government with ministries, branches and 15 localities on new measures to fight the COVID-19 on Wednesday, the Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Health to help localities in strictly implementing the set of criteria for a safe hospital and a standard process to handle suspected COVID-19 cases to promptly prevent cross-infection in the community.

From the experience of Quang Nam and Da Nang, Vietnam's COVID-19 hotspots, the Prime Minister urged for the establishment of propaganda and monitoring teams in the community, who will visit every household to find out people believed to potentially spread  the disease or get infected.

Mr. Phuc said: “Each locality should think about an effective anti-epidemic strategy, both economically and medically. Provinces should assess the level of risk within a locality without putting the entire city or district under lock-down for a long period of time. For residential areas at risk of contagion, we need security staff on duty around the clock. We attach great importance to epidemic prevention and control with vigilance,  but the strict large-scale closure not only paralyzes all socio-economic activities, but also affects psychology and sentiment of people and society.”

The Prime Minister stressed the need to better manage medical waste because there is a risk of disease spreading from this source such as face masks and test strips.  

According to the Ministry of Health, by 6pm Wednesday, Vietnam reported 14 more COVID-19 patients: 1 patient in Hanoi and 13 others in Da Nang. Vietnam has to date had a total of 880 COVID-19 patients, of whom 400 patients were cured and 17 died.