Dong Nai has been urged to tighten COVID-19 prevention and control to minimise the risk of infection in industrial parks while its two neighbouring localities – HCM City and Binh Dương – are becoming major COVID-19 hotspots in Viet Nam.
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| Workers clean their hands by hand sanitiser at a company in Dong Nai. |
Chairing an online meeting between the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and Dong Nai authorities on Thursday morning, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that it was urgently necessary to monitor people who frequently travelled from provinces to Dong Nai like workers, drivers or those who transport goods.
They must submit health declarations at checkpoints whenever they entered the province, he said.
The province was also asked to adopt measures to better manage workers’ schedules, especially those who are living in other provinces but working in Dong Nai.
Four COVID-19 cases linked to patients in HCM City, Da Nang and Binh Duong have been reported in Dong Nai province but the alert was raised to the highest level as Dong Nai is hosting 1.2 million workers – the biggest working force in Viet Nam.
According to the national committee, factories and companies should rearrange shifts so that if an infection is reported, only one production line involved would be stopped instead of halting production of the whole factory or company.
Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam asked the provincial authorities to prepare facilities, staff and equipment to respond to the disease outbreak, particularly in testing, tracing and isolating COVID-19-hit areas.
Director of the province’s Health Department Phan Huy Anh Vu said that in the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Viet Nam, four COVID-19 cases were reported in the province with 500 F1s and 2,000 F2s detected.
“Due to close linkage with HCM City and Binh Duong, there is a high possibility of the spread of COVID-19 to Dong Nai,” Vu said, adding that the province prepared nearly 20 concentrated quarantine areas for about 3,000-5,000 people.
Dong Nai Lung Hospital and Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital would be used for COVID-19 treatment only if needed.
Vu added that thanks to Health Ministry’s support, the province now had three COVID-19 testing units that could deal with about 5,000 single tests daily or 50,000 pooled sample tests per day. Their capacity could be increased to 12,000 single tests per day.
Vu asked for COVID-19 vaccines for workers as soon as possible.
He also recommended a meeting where authorities of HCM City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai discuss travel restrictions. Dong Nai authorities also planned to arrange workers to stay in factories to minimise infection risk and continue working.
Also on Thursday morning, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son inspected COVID-19 prevention and control at Dong Nai provincial General Hospital and two companies at Amata Industrial Park.
Son recommended that Dong Nai should have an appropriate testing strategy, especially the protection of hospitals and medical facilities for early and quick detection of cases with clinical signs of COVID-19 when they reached there for examination and treatment.
Rapid testing, single sample testing and pooled sample testing must be combined properly and effectively.
The province was suggested to allow F1s to take health quarantine at home or in residential areas with the supervision of health authorities.
The Ministry of Health assigned HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital to guide the province in preparing resuscitation facilities, supporting Bình Dương and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces when there are serious cases.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) will be given to Dong Nai so that it could soon set up a treatment area for COVID-19 patients in critical conditions. The area could start with 10-20 beds and then increase to 50 beds.
(Source: VNS)
