and control regulations, heard a Cabinet regular press conference on December 2.

Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung speaks at the Cabinet regular press conference.

Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung said the Ministry of Transport has also decided to suspend the head of the flight crew from work for 15 days for responsibility clarification.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said individuals and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines must take the responsibility for the case, which, he said, is very serious as it has affected the community as well as the country’s pandemic prevention and control efforts over the past time.

The individuals and collectives involved, therefore, must be handled strictly in line with legal regulations, the deputy minister stressed.

According to Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong, as of 18:00 on December 2, his ministry identified 800 people who had close contact with the COVID-19 patient (F1), and 788 people who had close contact with F1s (F2).

As many 737 out of the 800 people have been tested for the coronavirus, with four positive.

The health ministry is joining hands with other relevant ministries and agencies to roll out drastic measures in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic within the community.

The PM has also asked the areas at a high risk of COVDI-19 transmission to consider social distancing, and stressed that protecting the public’s health is the most important task.

According to Ho Chi Minh City's Health Department, the male flight attendant who was confirmed as COVID-19 Patient No. 1,342 violated disease prevention regulations while he was under concentrated and home quarantine, thus making him and another man (Patient No. 1,347) be infected with the SARS-CoV-2.

The Vietnam Airlines staff is a crew member of Flight VN5021 from Japan to Can Tho on November 14, the department said.

While staying at a quarantine site of the national flag carrier in Tan Binh district of Ho Chi Minh City from November 14 to 18, the patient had contact with a colleague who is Patient No. 1,325 serving on another flight.

After testing negative for the coronavirus twice, Patient No. 1,342 was allowed to undergo self-quarantine at his rented house in Tan Binh district.

During this period, the patient had close contact with his mother and two friends. The male friend came to share the house with Patient No. 1,342.

Patient No. 1,342 had his sample collected for the third test on November 28, and the result was positive.

The three people having close contact with him were immediately quarantined and tested. Among them, the male friend is positive and became Patient No. 1,347.

Nguyen Tri Dung, Director of the city’s Centre for Disease Control, said that Patient No. 1,342 lowered his guard against the pandemic and did not abide by quarantine regulations, both at concentrated facility and at home, thus causing disease transmission.

The centre will tighten the implementation of quarantine regulations, he affirmed.

PM orders strengthening COVID-19 prevention measures

The Prime Minister on December 2 issued Dispatch No.1699/CD-TTg on strengthening COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

In the document, he asked ministries and ministry-level agencies, Government agencies, centrally-run municipal and provincial People’s Committees to continue closely controlling infections from external sources, zone off and quarantine affected areas, raise the sense of vigilance, uphold the responsibility of heads of units, as well as take drastic, concerted and effective measures in the effort.

The centrally-run cities and provinces must follow requirements as recommended by the Health Ministry, including compulsorily wearing masks in public places, spraying disinfectants in quarantine sites and those gathering a large number of people such as supermarkets, schools, bus stations, airports, railway stations, public transport means, and especially at medical establishments.

Chairpersons of those entities were required to enhance inspection and punish heads of units for violations in line with the Government’s Decree No.117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28 regulating punishment of administrative violations in the medical field.

About a local COVID-19 infection case in Ho Chi Minh City, the municipal authorities must quickly trace down F1 and F2 cases to prevent the third wave of infection.

The Ministries of Defence and Public Security were also assigned to strengthen border and immigration management.

The PM allowed flights carrying diplomats, experts, investors, skilled workers and their relatives to Vietnam as well as Vietnamese guest workers to other countries.

Ministries, agencies and authorities of centrally-run cities and provinces were asked to support the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens living abroad.

All passengers to Vietnam must be put under quarantine at designated facilities.

Activities gathering large crowds must be suspended.

In case of local transmissions, social distancing measures must be imposed at high-risk areas.

The health sector must improve its capacity and cooperate with foreign partners to produce COVID-19 vaccine for domestic use.

The mass media must continue raising public awareness of the pandemic, instruct the people to stay vigilant and prevent negative and distorted information from causing public concern./.VNA

PM orders strict punishment for violations of COVID-19 prevention rules

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested strict punishment for violations of COVID-19 prevention rules committed by individuals and organisations, which had resulted in infections in the community recently.