COVID-19 downgraded to Group B infectious disease

A health worker collects sample for COVID-19 testing. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – COVID-19 is
no longer an in Group A but downgraded to Group B from
October 20, according to a decision issued on October 19 by the Ministry of
Health (MoH).

With the downgrade, based on Point b
of Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 3 in the 2007 Law on Prevention and Control
of Infectious Diseases, COVID-19 prevention and control activities will be
carried out in line with the regulations on Group B ones.
 
On January 29, 2020, the MoH classified the coronavirus disease 2019 as a Group
A infectious disease.

According to the 2007 law, Group A comprises
particularly dangerous infectious diseases that can spread very fast and on a
large scale and have a high mortality rate or unclear causes. Meanwhile, Group
B covers the infectious diseases that can spread fast and cause death.

Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Tran
Hong Ha signed a decision amending an appendix that regulates the incubation
period and the required period of no new infections to serve as the basis for declaring
end to an infectious disease outbreak. This appendix accompanies the Prime
Minister’s Decision No 02/2016/QD-TTg, dated January 28, 2016, on the
conditions to declare an outbreak and end to an outbreak of an infectious
disease.

In the amended appendix, COVID-19 is a
Group B infectious disease which has an incubation period of four days. The
time with no new cases needed to declare an outbreak end is eight days. The earlier regulations put the respective
periods at 14 days and 28 days.

The
reduction of the periods was based on the scientific ground, the current
situation of the pandemic, and recommendations from the World Health
Oganisation (WHO) and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since
the pandemic broke out, Vietnam has undergone four waves of infections
with 11,624,065 cases, ranking 13th among 231 countries and territories.
With an average of 117,470 cases per 1 million people, it ranks 120th in this regard.

Among
the infections, it has recorded 10,640,953 recoveries and 43,206 deaths,
accounting for 0.4% of the total.

The
country has administered 266,532,582 doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far,
statistics show./.