Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (standing) speaks at the event.

He made the request at a working session in Hanoi on February 4 with the national steering committee on preventing and combating the acute respiratory disease caused by nCoV, and ministries and sectors.

The PM said while industry-trade and agriculture sectors have resumed operation after the seven-day Lunar New Year (Tet), some activities such as stock transaction, tourism and export have been reduced due to the threat posed by the virus.

Given the complicated development of the disease, he suggested taking stricter precautions to prevent outbreaks.

He told ministries and localities not to be pessimistic to avoid causing panic among the public.

The government leader required that all sectors and localities continue dealing with the disease, accepting the sacrifice of some economic interests to protect the health of people.

At the same time, the Government leader requested prompt measures for restructuring production and ensuring growth.

He tasked the Ministry of Health to build scenarios to cope with the disease without causing excess anxiety among the public, while the Ministry of Science and Technology focus on studying the production of drugs and vaccines against the virus.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism must be stricter in managing festivals, he said.

The Finance Ministry was told to prepare sufficient funding for epidemic prevention and control.

PM Phuc also recommended limiting the organization of meetings and conferences with large numbers of participants to reduce risks of virus spreading.

According to the Ministry of Health, coronavirus first occurred in China’s Wuhan city in December 2019, and has spread to many cities in China as well as 26 other countries and territories.

As of 15:30 on February 4, the world recorded 20,631 infection cases and 427 deaths, including 425 fatalities in mainland China, one in the Philippines, and one in Hong Kong (China).

Vietnam has so far confirmed 10 infection cases./.VNA