Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the conference. (Photo: VNA)

To conclude the conference, Prime Minister Chinh commended the efforts of all levels, sectors and localities in implementing social distancing, which he said have resulted in initial achievements.

Given the complicated, serious developments of the disease, Prime Minister Chinh said the top task now is pandemic prevention and control, but in safe places, production can be organized. He added that in pandemic-hit localities which are in social distancing, the Party Committee Secretary of a locality must act as the head of the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the Chairman of the People's Committee of the same level locality is the commander. Each locality must have a COVID-19 unit operating around the clock.

According to the Prime Minister, localities must strictly implement social distancing, organize rapid testing, classify and quickly isolate infected people from the community, and take advantage of the golden time of social distancing to contain the pandemic. In some localities, if large-scale testing is not possible, testing will be focused and on target.

Localities can organize dedicated isolation of infected cases and those in close contact with infected cases but should not allow cross-infection. Home isolation can be piloted without letting the disease spread to the community, while areas with few cases can still organize dedicated isolation, said Mr.Chinh.

The Prime Minister asked localities to be ready with adequate human resources, supplies and logistics to treat patients, minimizing the number of deaths. Hospitals immediately eliminate unnecessary administrative procedures and prioritize saving lives before serious cases rise.

Prime Minister Chinh urged speeding up vaccination for prioritized groups. The government allows localities and businesses to find vaccine supply, but the Ministry of Health is responsible for quality management, licensing, preservation and organizing free injections for the entire population, he said.

Mr. Chinh repeated the request “not to let anyone lack food or clothing and meet all the medical requirements of the people,” and facilitate the circulation of goods, especially essential goods, production and import-export.