On May 8, 2021, an IZ worker tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after spending the April holiday with family members.

After two weeks, as of May 26, 1,454 infection cases had been reported in the province, mostly IZ workers.

However, Bac Giang leaders stated that hundreds of infections a day were anticipated, and that Bac Giang had prepared well for the fight against the outbreak.

Rapid tests

Bac Giang chose to use antigen rapid tests for F1 (direct contacts) cases in quarantine areas and suspected infections in the community to discover positive cases. Soon after the results, the provincial authorities classified subjects and applied appropriate regimens.

In the last month, since the new wave broke out, Bac Giang has completed large-scale testing in all districts and towns.

Bac Giang has also received support from all over the country.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long set up a taskforce to Bac Giang to help the epicenter with the outbreak. Hundreds of physicians and medical workers from Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Thai Nguyen, Yen Bai, Ministry of National Defence and Military Hospital 103 have been sent to the province.

The promise that all workers will be tested has been implemented. At least 130 workers from five IZs have given samples for tests so far, or 20,000 workers a day.

A ‘fortress’

The battle has been going as planned: giving medical treatment to F0s (infection source) at hospitals; establishing concentrated quarantine areas; and imposing social distancing on F2 and F3 (indirect contacts) for continued supervision.

Meanwhile, testing campaigns are being organized to continue screening and classifying workers into groups for appropriate treatment.

Bac Giang imposed a medical quarantine on 157 hamlets and residential quarters; medical isolation on four communes, wards and towns; social distancing on 31 communes, wards, towns, 18 hamlets and residential quarters; social lockdown on four districts; and social distancing on Bac Giang City and Yen The District.

The province formed 12 quarantine areas and treatment areas to treat positive patients with the capacity of 3,000 beds; built intensive care units for serious patients; and installed field hospitals.

The provincial authorities ordered the installation of a transmission line that connects Covid-19 patient treatment hospitals in the province with the local healthcare department and the Ministry of Health (MOH) for exchange of information and professional guidance.

The provincial authorities ordered the installation of a transmission line that connects Covid-19 patient treatment hospitals in the province with the local healthcare department and the Ministry of Health for exchange of information and professional guidance.

“More infection cases may be discovered in Bac Giang in the days to come, but the speed is of the spread has decreased step by step. Newly discovered cases are in quarantine areas, so the possibility of the pandemic spreading among the community is low,” said Bac Giang Chair Le Anh Duong.

“Bac Giang now can control the situation well,” Duong said.

Bac Giang has called on the country to help the province overcome the outbreak. It has set up a ‘zero-dong supermarket’ in the province and allocated VND310 billion from the provincial budget to support workers.

Fighting the pandemic and protecting businesses at the same time

On May 18, Bac Giang suspended the operation of four IZs, namely Quang Chau, Van Trung, Dinh Tram and Song Khe – Noi Hoang, and imposed social distancing on the entire district of Viet Yen.

Prior to that, Bac Giang said it would shut down units and enterprises that don’t observe epidemic prevention regulations.

There are more than 560 enterprises in six IZs in Bac Giang, employing tens of thousands of workers, which are the ‘backbone’ of the province’s economy.

However, Bac Giang understands that it needs to struggle with the outbreak and maintain production and business at the same time.

On May 13, Bac Giang’s Chair decided to allow F2 and F3 workers to return to work after meeting all the requirements on pandemic prevention and control.

On May 25, plan was released to reorganize production activities in Dinh Tram, Quang Chau, Song Khe – Noi Hoang and Van Trung IZs.

Eight enterprises were allowed to make plans to resume production in IZs in Viet Yen District from May 28.

Tran Thi Chi from Newwing Company in Van Trung IZ, said the company uses 17,000 workers. It is one of the companies with the highest number of workers in the province.

After receiving the instruction about resuming production, the company immediately designed plans to maintain production during the pandemic.

“We have established 'groups of workers to fight Covid-19’. The members of the same groups share the same means of transport, have meals and live together. This restricts contact with other people and makes it easier to trace pathogens,” Chi explained.

At the company, groups of workers have meals at different times in accordance with a timetable. Disinfectants are sprayed after workers having meals, before the next turn of workers arrive to eat.

Duong said that local enterprises resumed their operation to reactivate the global supply chains in the province. If the supply chains are disrupted, the entire economy will be affected.

Using technology is a must

Deputy Director of the Bac Giang Department of Information and Communications Ngo Dinh Tien said all Bac Giang people have to make health declarations on apps.

On May 22, the provincial authorities released an urgent dispatch requesting all people to make medical declarations within three days, from May 22 to May 25.

Heads of departments, agencies and organizations, and heads of local authorities have been asked to inform the public about making health declarations (second time) via Ncovi and Bluezone apps on smartphones, and make online declarations at https://tokhaiyte.vn. Those who cannot make online declarations can call 18001119 to get support.

Anyone who deliberately makes a wrong declaration will be in violation of Vietnamese law and may be prosecuted if the behavior causes serious consequences.

According to the department, 427,655 people as of May 25 had provided their phone numbers to Bluezone, or 23.71 percent of Bac Giang’s population.

Four outbreaks

Vietnam has experienced four Covid-19 waves. The country has been fighting the pandemic by relying on the political system and human power. The ratio of the number of people under quarantine (which is high) to the number of infections (low) has been among the highest in the world.

This method is effective when the number of infections is low and the virus spreads slowly. However, it is not feasible in the context of new coronarivus variants that spread rapidly.

With tens of thousands of F0s, the number of F1s, or those who have to be put under concentrated quarantine, and F2s, who have to stay under quarantine at home, can be as many as hundreds of thousands.

Therefore, cities and provinces in Vietnam have been asked to apply new approaches as per the Prime Minister instruction, who said that it is necessary to be more proactive and shift from defense to attack, apply technology more, take the initiative in testing, test more rapidly, and organize vaccinations more rapidly.

Kien Trung

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