A woman is seen not wearing face mask at a market in Hanoi

Under Decree No. 117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28, 2020, fines will be applied for violations of regulations on personal preventive measures for people engaged in the pandemic fight and those at a high risk of infection.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh signed a document asking local departments, sectors, and localities to continue strengthening pandemic prevention and control measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Local authorities have been asked to strictly handle illegal immigrants and those failing to wear masks in public places.

Meanwhile, on February 3, the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control of the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai issued an urgent notification on the tracing of people having close contact with the 14th COVID-19 patient in the locality.

The committee asked people who visited places the patient visited to promptly seek support at the nearest medical facility or via the committee’s hotline.

Elsewhere, the northern province of Bac Giang has found 4,493 people related to COVID-19 patients and taken 3,181 samples for testing.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Anh Duong has asked local authorities to continue closely controlling sources of infection while monitoring workers returning home and handling illegal immigrants.

Hanoi carries out urgent tasks in response to COVID-19 outbreak

The Hanoi Party Committee has identified several urgent tasks for local authorities to complete in their efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread around the capital over the last few days.

The city held a meeting on February 2 chaired by Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue to discuss COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Among the priorities, relevant forces need to improve the capacity and efficiency of municipal and grassroots steering boards for COVID-19 prevention and control, enhance testing capacity, and consider the actual necessity of upcoming events and celebrations for the Lunar New Year (Tet).

The city’s steering board was asked to zone off affected areas and test people having close contact with confirmed cases or returning from pandemic-hit areas, while testing more people working on the frontlines and announcing testing results as soon as possible.

The Party Committee also requested the municipal administration and all-level steering boards prepare personnel, medical supplies, and quarantine and treatment facilities.

Authorities are set to step up communications on disease prevention measures and provide relevant information to media outlets in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, the municipal Party Committee’s Standing Board will send more delegations to examine anti-COVID-19 efforts in vulnerable places like industrial parks and schools and strictly deal with any violations.

Regarding vaccinations, Hanoi will report to the Government and work with the Ministry of Health to ensure sufficient vaccine supply for local people, initially those at high risk, with funding from its budget and other sources.

It will push ahead with efforts to achieve the twin targets of curbing the outbreak and sustaining socio-economic development, according to the municipal Party Committee.

As of the afternoon of February 3, Vietnam had recorded 1,911 COVID-19 cases, including 1,022 cases of community transmission.

Hanoi had posted 21 cases of community transmission since January 27, all linked to hotspots in Chi Linh city in Hai Duong province and Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh province./.VNA

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