Quang Ninh has cancelled the requirement on negative PCR testing results

The resolution provides provisional rules on adapting safely and flexibly to the Covid-19 pandemic and controlling it effectively.

Quang Ninh pioneered new policies by canceling the requirement for people entering the province to show negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing results within the last 72 hours. It also removed the regulation that Quang Ninh’s residents have to have a test before leaving the locality and returning.

Hanoi and Hai Phong, which once insisted on the testing result requirement, have also removed the regulation.

In the south, many provinces which were the epicenters in the fourth pandemic wave have resumed trade and removed requirements on testing as well as unnecessary administrative procedures.

Turning point

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed at an online meeting with Can Tho’s voters late last week that localities must not set policies inconsistent with regulations set by the central government. The spirit is that the Communist Party leads and the State manages, unified from the central to local levels.

The outcomes are attributed to Resolution 128 which creates a turning point in fighting the pandemic under the motto ‘adapting safely and flexibly to control the Covid-19 pandemic effectively’.

By temporarily stopping Directives 15, 16 and 19, Decision 2686 and some provisions in related documents, Resolution 128 has marked a milestone for the decision to give up the Zero Covid strategy.

The conclusion released by the Communication Sub-committee said that isolation and the policies that lead to trade restrictions among localities must not be abused because they have had a negative impact on people’s lives, and businesses’ operations.

Localities have been told not to “pass the buck” to localities at lower levels. In some cases, authorities at grassroots levels have imposed restrictions higher than the central government’s. These extreme measures will lead to serious consequences.

Local authorities need to reach a consensus to implement policies throughout the country and recognize testing results announced by other localities. Quarantines need to be implemented at the smallest possible scale to avoid cross-infections in crowded places.

It’s necessary to reconsider the scientific foundation for the 14-day quarantine requirement for people with negative test results in quarantine zones. With the rapid transmission of Delta variant, it will be unreasonable to isolate people with negative testing results after three days, because this means isolating uninfected people.

Currently, some localities require long quarantine times, thus leading to security problems, and overloading in quarantine zones and cross-infections.

The localities not hit by Covid cannot continue following the old ways of fighting the pandemic and need to shift to anti-pandemic measures more suited to the general situation of the country.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said recently: "We’ve had a lot of scientific achievements. We have a Covid-19 vaccine, but what we really didn’t predict was human behavior. Human behavior during this pandemic is not yet there to bring the desired results.”

"We are fighting each other, not the common enemy, which is the virus," she said.

She believes that the pandemic’s ending will depend on human behavior as the determining factor, and on cooperation among the government and people.

Her observation applies to the US but for many other countries as well, including Vietnam.

“The darkest days of the pandemic are over,” Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said in local newspapers. However, the pandemic has not ended and the virus still exists.

I believe that people should be allowed to join a decentralization policy in fighting the pandemic, responsible for the health of their own and their family members.

Though the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) temporary guidance still has issues that need discussion, the Government of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has created a new foundation for life with safe adaptation to the pandemic, and local authorities are going in this direction.

Now is the time for every citizen and the whole community to take responsibility for their health and take action against the situation described by the statement ‘We are fighting against each other, not the common enemy – the virus’. By doing this, we will escape the pandemic with the least possible hurts, both physical and psychological. 

Tu Giang

Local authorities urged to set green corridor for domestic flights

The first commercial flights have been provided in the new normal period. However, the application of different regulations in different localities have caused problems.

Passengers to several major cities exempt from concentrated quarantine

The Hanoi People’s Committee on October 11 issued Document No.3487/UBND-DT on the pilot resumption of regular domestic flights to and from the capital city.