Tightening controls at points of entry and loosening COVID-19 restrictions for local residents are part of Da Nang government’s new strategy for COVID-19 response.  Tightening checks at trails and 15 entrance points to the city is one of the most effective measures to create an effective shield for preventing the risk of the virus being transmitted from arrivals from other Vietnamese localities, especially areas affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Police, militia, guards and youth union members in Hoa Quy Ward, Ngu Hanh Son District work together to conduct patrols on trails connecting the city with Dien Ngoc Ward, Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam Province in a bid to detect arrivals without passing COVID-19 checkpoints. Picture was taken on the afternoon of June 11. Photo: LE HUNG

Tightening controls at trails and points of entry

Since May 28, police in Lien Chieu, Ngu Hanh Son and Hoa Vang districts have tightened controls at the city's borders with neighbouring provinces, namely Quang Nam and Thua Thien- Hue.

In addition to enhancing surveillance on people and vehicles entering the city at 15 checkpoints to be set up at entrance points to Da Nang, police officers have worked with local forces in Ngu Hanh Son and Hoa Vang District to conduct regular patrols on 24 trails connecting with neighbouring Quang Nam Province in a bid to detect arrivals without passing COVID-19 checkpoints or illegal border crossing.

Particularly, the functional forces are working around clock at a checkpoint at the end of Mai Dang Chon Street which borders Dien Ngoc Ward, Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam to enforce COVID-19 rules on all arrivals, including asking them to have their temperature measured and have their health status declared.

Hoa Vang District has 21 trails which border Quang Nam Province, and most of these areas are scattered across the district and far away from residential areas. Therefore, local authorities are encouraging residents to engage actively in timely detecting and reporting about illegal aliens to functional forces to handle these cases. The heed has been paid on urging the public across the district to uphold their responsibility to join their efforts with local authorities to enhance surveillance on new arrivals in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

The functional forces in Hoa Khuong Commune, Hoa Vang District, encourage local people to timely detect and report about illegal aliens and violations of the city’s COVID-19 rules to them. Photo: L. HUNG

Increasing the handling of vehicles that drop off passengers at disallowed locations

Police officers have been deployed to a bypass in the south of the Hai Van Pass and a section of the National Highway 14B which runs through the city to work around clock in an attempt to enforce regulations on vehicles that drop off passengers at disallowed locations.

“We have asked petrol filling station operators and owners of food and drink establishments in the two areas to make commitments to join their efforts with us to monitor pick-up and drop-off passengers from vehicles in their areas and surroundings. They must call our hotline to report any violations of the rules on picking up and dropping off passengers. In addition, we call on local residents to play their part to stop a flow of arrivals to the city without passing COVID-19 checkpoints and taking them back”, Lieutenant Colonel Pham Hong Hai, Head of Traffic Police Station at Hoa Nhon Entrance Point said.  

Police officers have been putting forth their best efforts and working tirelessly to keep coronavirus out of the city and ensure security, social order and safety in the city. Patrol teams across Da Nang are working the overnight shift at entrance points and streets to deal with illegal street motorcycle racers, and stop new arrivals from bringing the deadly pathogen into the city despite the challenges faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporting by LE HUNG – translating by H.L