Vietnam holds military exercises against Covid-19

Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense on March 4 launched a one-day rehearsal to cope with the outbreak of Covid-19 worldwide.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (3rd from left) and Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich (2nd from left) at the rehearsal. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich chaired the rehearsal which is the largest of its kind to cope with the epidemic.

The event marked the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee on Covid-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control.

Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang (standing), chief of General Staff of Vietnam People’s Army and deputy defense minister. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang, chief of General Staff of Vietnam People’s Army and deputy defense minister, said the rehearsal aims to employ military resources for testing strategies against the epidemic.

The hypothetical situation is that the epidemic escalates to levels 3, 4, and 5 with between 3,000 and 30,000 infected cases and infections found in several military units.

For levels 4 and 5, some military schools under the Capital High Command would house people returning from epidemic-hit countries and territories for quarantine; Military Medical University and Military Hospital 105 would build field hospitals to collect and treat infected cases; Army Chemistry Vector is responsible for sterilizing the infected areas, while Air and Air Defense Force Vector transports relief to boundary areas.

Senior officials watch the rehearsal. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, military barracks have been used to accommodate people under the quarantine.

Vietnam found the first case tested positive with Covid-19 on January 23. By February 13, the country reported 16 infected cases. So far, all of them have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Vietnam has found no new infected cases over the past 20 days.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that Vietnam won the first round of the fight against the epidemic but more efforts are required to continue the battle.

In the context of rising infected cases in several countries and territories, Vietnam has suspended the entry of Chinese, South Korean and Italian nationals to curb the spread of the epidemic.

Currently, Vietnam is isolating thousands of people returning to the country from epidemic-hit regions.

As of March 4, the global infected cases approached 93,000 and the death toll reached 3,165, including 221 outside China. Of the countries and territories outside epicenter China, South Korea has 5,328 people infected while Italy reported 2,502.