HCM City asked to support southwestern provinces in COVID-19 fight

Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh speaks at the working session (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – has asked Ho Chi Minh City
to maintain a high level of vigilance against , improve its quarantine capacity,
and be ready to support other localities, including southwestern border
provinces.

At
a working session with HCM City’s leaders on April 28, Binh said the city
should review its COVID-19 prevention and control from the highest to the grassroots
levels.

Along
with strengthening the inspection of pandemic prevention activities, especially
at hospitals, schools, supermarkets, and places of worship, it should strictly
punish those who fail to abide by prevention and control regulations as well as
those facilitating illegal entry into Vietnam and illegal immigrants, he said.

Amid
the complex developments in the region and the world, localities around the
country must strictly implement the directions from the Party Central
Committee’s Secretariat, the Government, and the Prime Minister, especially
during the National Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1) holidays
and the upcoming general elections, the Deputy PM stressed.

At
the working session, Deputy Minister of Public Security Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen
Van Son said that, since the beginning of April, the public security force has
held four working sessions in southern localities on COVID-19 prevention while
directing the force in HCM City to strengthen its engagement in the task.

Meanwhile,
Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that HCM City is facing a high risk
of another COVID-19 outbreak, stressing the need for it to work harder to
prevent that from happening. Together with cancelling mass gatherings, the city
should also prepare more medical equipment for fighting the pandemic, he said.

The
minister hoped the city will help Mekong Delta localities in COVID-19
prevention and control.

According
to Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong, the city
has discovered 108 illegal immigrants since the beginning of April.

Although
it has gone 73 days without any cases of domestic transmission, it has remained
vigilant. Since April 27, it has strictly punished those not wearing a face
mask in public places, while designing specific plans to ensure safety during the
upcoming , he said.

Nguyen
Tan Binh, Director of the city’s Department of Health, said the southern hub
has recorded 254 COVID-19 cases to date, including 68 domestically-transmitted
infections.

Since
the beginning of the year, it has sent 66 illegal immigrants to quarantine and is
encouraging local people to make health declarations and strictly implement the
“5K message”./.