Da Nang Party Committee Deputy Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet on Tuesday afternoon said that maximising the use of resources to fight coronavirus is needed in districts across the city, especially the worst-hit Son Tra District in addition to paying special attention to taking all necessary steps to ensure the supply of essential goods for people in their local lockdown areas.

Da Nang Party Committee Deputy Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet (left) delivered his instructions at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss next steps to combat the spread of COVID-19 Photo: LE HUNG

Deputy Secretary Triet asked districts and 56 wards and communes across the city to make their own COVID-19 risk assessment and send it to the municipal Department of Health before the midday on August 11.

The Health agency was requested to assess the existing situation based on threat reports from localities to enable better predictions about the situation to occur in the future in order to give advice to the municipal government to introduce the most appropriate policy responses to COVID-19.

Mr Triet demanded government agencies and department to deploy a half of their employees to their residential areas to join the city’s fight against the deadly disease.

He highlighted the important role of the COVID-19 community taskforce in educating their local residents to follow the city’s social distancing measures in a bid to make sure that they are practicing new restrictions to protect themselves and others.  

Mr Triet called on Son Tra District authorities to take more initiative to ensure a secure supply of food and other essential items for people in local lockdown areas, as well as to pilot the operation of mobile markets to bring essential goods to these venues with proper precautions in place and ensuring the safety and security.         

Da Nang People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh said that apart from local lockdown areas in Son Tra District, industrial parks are at high risk of COVID-19 transmission. Therefore, it is necessary for the Authority of Da Nang Hi-tech Park and Industrial Parks to enhance surveillance of businesses under their management to adopt timely and decisive responses in a bid to control the possible spread of virus, Mr Minh emphasised.

 “Da Nang is experiencing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19 with no significant decrease in daily new infections after its first 10 days of tougher restrictions. It is very necessary for local authorities to strengthen prevention measures and take appropriate and tailored actions to tackle COVID-19. Son Tra District authorities must tighten controls at local lockdown areas to prevent cross transmission among residents in these high-risk venues", Vice Chairman Minh requested.

 Dr Ton That Thanh, the Director of the municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the health agency will roll out large scale community testing across the city to allow positive cases caught and quickly identify their contacts and isolate them in efforts to break the chains of transmission.

“All people in very high-risk settings will get tested for COVID-19 every 3 days while those in high-risk settings will access to coronavirus testing every 7 days. In addition, “one door-one test” campaign will be conducted for 50 per cent of the families in other parts of Da Nang.”, said Director Thanh.

Fines of over VND 142 million on Tuesday, August 10, were imposed on 37 people for breaking the city’s COVID-19 rules. In total, close to VND 1.8 billion worth of fines have been levied on 719 violators of the city’s COVID-19 restrictions, according to latest figures released by the Office of the municipal People’s Committee.  

Reporting by LE HUNG – translating by H.L