Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on 4 August asked the health sector and all-level authorities to concentrate on high-risk areas during the fight against COVID-19.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

According to the Deputy PM, hospitals and nursing homes need the most attention, and patients in critical conditions and prolonged treatment in intensive care unit (ICU), and renal and cardiovascular departments are most vulnerable to coronavirus transmission.

The outbreak in the central city of Da Nang has put hospitals, localities, departments and agencies on alert, he further said, stressing the need to tighten rules in hospitals and seriously observe pandemic prevention and control regulations towards patients and health workers.

Dam said measures against COVID-19 should be implemented in the status of new normal, and asked the Ministry of Health to coordinate with media agencies to guide people to maintain their daily activities and production in the new situation.

Speaking at the meeting, Acting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long pointed to the complexity of the pandemic in Da Nang and nearby Quang Nam province, saying testing proves that the new wave began in early July.

The ministry is making all-out efforts to contain the disease by extending testing and surveillance in the community and quarantining all F1 cases that have direct contact with COVID-19 patients.

Long said up to 50,000 samples in Da Nang and Quang Nam will be taken for testing in the time ahead.

The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control predicted that there will be more cases of community transmission and fatalities in the time ahead as the pandemic is sweeping through ICU, artificial kidney and heart departments where patients with serious chronic diseases are being treated.

The committee reported that as of August 4 evening, Viet Nam had confirmed 670 COVID-19 cases, including 308 imported cases that were quarantined upon arrival.

Among the patients, 378 have recovered. There are 222 new cases are linked to Da Nang since 25 July.

Nearly 133,280 people who had close contact with patients or came from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine and medical monitoring.

Source: VNA