Hanoi keeps vigilant against Covid-19

Hanoi's authorities have requested local residents to remain vigilant against Covid-19 at all times, but should not be overly concerned because the situation in Hanoi is still under control.

In a dispatch released this week, Hanoi People's Committee requested localities across the city to ensure the Covid-19 vaccination speed and tighten measures to prevent the outbreak.

Along with speeding up the inoculation among students in line with the Ministry of Health’s guidance, the localities will have to complete the work among the children between 5 and 12 years old in September.

Localities are also tasked with soon finalizing the administration of the third and fourth doses of Covid-19 vaccines to adults and accelerating the injection of the third dose among people aged from 12 to 18. Besides, the dispatch underlined the need to finish the vaccination for prioritized groups as soon as possible.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong encourages a student while she is going to get a Covid-19 vaccine shot. Photo: The Hanoi Times

According to the municipal Health Department, although the number of Covid-19 patients in Hanoi is increasing, more than 95% of them have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. The department will continue tightening pandemic prevention and control and ensure safety at hospitals and health clinics.

The city has rolled out a number of measures to expand the vaccination coverage, including strengthening communication on the benefits of vaccination, enhancing the sense of responsibility of leaders in districts and towns in preventing the resurgence of the pandemic, and strictly inspecting vaccination activities to make sure that vaccines are injected in a timely manner.

Moreover, Hanoi will delegate to district and town administrations powers over pandemic containment. Secretaries of Party Committees and chairpersons of people's committees of districts are tasked with reviewing and improving medical capacity at the grassroots level and making thorough preparations.

Authorities of the districts are also requested to continue to apply technology in patient treatment and support and to strengthen the role of community Covid-19 prevention and control groups.

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan has recently required all provinces and cities to urgently prepare human resources, drugs, medical equipment and supplies, and be ready for any possible pandemic situation, ensuring that all Covid-19 patients can access medical services in the fastest and earliest way.

Thuan asked all health departments and hospitals under the Ministry of Health (MoH) to ensure medical oxygen for emergency and Covid-19 treatment.

The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases is treating 30 seriously ill Covid-19 patients. Photo: Minh Quyet

The deputy minister said the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the new variants is still complicated in many localities, threatening people's health and lives, so it is necessary to proactively prepare a response to cope with the increasing number of coronavirus infections.

The MoH noted three important factors which are decisive in prevention scenarios including medical oxygen, drugs and medical supplies. Thus, localities need to coordinate with the Medical Oxygen Coordination Department and manufacturers to ensure oxygen supplies for Covid-19 treatment.

According to a report by the MoH, over the past week, Vietnam has recorded an average of 3,000 new Covid-19 patients each day. As of September 6, 144 seriously ill Covid-19 patients are being treated at hospitals. In recent weeks, Vietnam has had 1-2 more deaths related to Covid-19 per day.

The increase would cause overload for the health system, particularly in the context of the outbreak of other diseases such as dengue fever, influenza A, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease, the ministry warned.

The ministry said it will continue closely watching the development of the Covid-19 pandemic and regularly evaluate and analyze the situation in order to build plans and scenarios to respond to any outbreak in a timely manner.

The national Covid-19 caseload in Vietnam now stands at more than 11.4 million, according to the MoH. With 5,690 patients given the all-clear during the day, the total number of recoveries rose to over 10 million. Meanwhile, there are 117 patients needing breathing support. The fatality total rose to 43,123.

On September 5, an additional nearly 95,000 doses of vaccines were administered, raising the total number of doses of Covid-19 vaccines injected to around 258 million.