Vice-Chairman Duong Anh Duc at the meeting

Ho Chi Minh City has seen a decline in coronavirus cases daily, said Director of the city Department of Health Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh at an online briefing on epidemic prevention and control chaired by Vice Chairmen of the municipal People's Committee Ngo Minh Chau and Duong Anh Duc on June 4.

According to Dr. Binh, before June 1, the southern metropolis recorded 50 infection cases a day. On June 1 and 2, it reduced to 43 cases and 28 cases respectively. The city reported 26 cases on June 3. This is a good sign, proving the city have well done in tracing measure.

Speaking at the virtual meeting, Dr. Binh said from May 18 to June 3, three community clusters had been reported. Worse, scientists discovered both viral variants that were first detected in the United Kingdom and India in cases in three local clusters. Presently, contacts of infected people are being brought to centralized isolation facilities to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the community.

According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh, in the coming time, the city may still have cases of Covid-19 without clear origin because some people are not willing to declare their health status. Therefore, Dr. Binh prompted organizations to stay alert and not worry.

Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh said currently doctors and nurses in large hospitals take turns to assist their peers in grass-root medical facilities in districts citywide. He advised local administrations to expand the concentrated areas; if they face personnel problems, the Department of Health will help them.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice-Chairman Ngo Minh Chau said that the city strictly followed the direction of the Central and Municipal Steering Committees for Epidemic Prevention and Control; as a result, the city has basically controlled the situation.

City dwellers should maintain calm amid the coronavirus pandemic while staying alert to the disease. He stressed that district authorities must strictly comply with the direction of the Central Steering Board for Covid-19 Prevention and Control and the city with a focus on reasonably organizing specific functional forces. He requested to pay attention to wholesale markets, traditional markets, supermarkets, hospitals, companies, factories, and public places where people usually gather.

Vice-Chairman Duong Anh Duc said nobody knows when the Covid-19 pandemic will end; therefore, all people must be prepared for a long-lasting fight.
He ordered enough isolation areas for contacts F1 stressing to curb cross-infection in these special areas.

The problem of garbage disposal in the blockade areas is very important because there is a potential risk of infection; hence, Mr. Duc required cooperation between the city Urban Environment Company and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to manage and treat them as medical waste.

The city People's Committee has proposed the Ministry of Health to provide more vaccines so that the city can inject people in the priority groups. In addition, the city and donors together find other sources of vaccines.

Regarding that many localities have sent documents for quarantine of people returning from Ho Chi Minh City and most recently the Southern Province of Dong Nai, Mr. Duc asked the Department of Transport and Communications and the Department of Health to consult the City People's Committee on working with Dong Nai province so as not to affect the production and flow of goods.

Enterprises in districts and Thu Duc city where industrial parks, export processing zones are located need to make a list of workers and employees for tracing purposes. If the disease spreads in industrial parks, factories, a lot of workers will be infected by the present variants; therefore, the situation will deteriorate very quickly. Business establishments and companies must utterly follow safety criteria issued by the Ministry of Health and the city.

SGGP

Trials of homegrown COVID-19 vaccine show positive signs

The clinical trials of Vietnamese COVID-19 vaccine candidate Nano Covax are set to enter Phase 3 this month with the optimal dosage of 25mcg, aiming to further test the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in humans before mass production begins.