(VOVWORLD) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued a notice on intensifying measures against pneumonia caused by a new strain of corona virus from China.
 Warnings of the novel corona virus at HCM city's Tan Son Nhat airport. (Photo: VNA) |
The virus is spreading human to human in China while no medicine or vaccine has yet been available. It had infected more than 2,700 people in China and killed 81 as of Monday.
Many countries have also recorded infection cases, including Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Australia, France and the US. The PM required the Health Ministry to closely check passengers coming in at border gates. Other agencies must work closely with the Health Ministry to popularize information and warnings to Vietnamese citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to affected areas. The supply of medicines, medical equipment and funding for disease prevention and control activities must be secured, said the notice.
Two Chinese citizens have been quarantined at Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital after they tested positive to the virus. These are the first cases of individuals infected with the virus Vietnam has confirmed since the disease spread from China’s Wuhan city last December.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said on Sunday that Vietnam has mobilized all available resources to prevent the virus.
“Preventive measures have been strengthened including health declaration requirements for all Chinese passengers. Reports on the epidemic are updated several times a day. We will continue to do all we can to prevent the virus even though we have to sacrifice some economic gains,” he said.
All people crossing border gates in Quang Ninh, Lang Son, and Cao Bang provinces must go through body temperature scanning.
“We have been strictly following the Government’s instructions. No case of infection has been detected so far,” captain Nguyen Tuan Anh of the Huu Nghi border gate in Lang Son told VOV.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has banned all flights between Vietnam and Wuhan.
The World Health Organization’s representative in Vietnam said that it’s too early to recommend border closure or travel restrictions between Vietnam and China.