Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang on Thursday afternoon called on officials to take all necessary measures to secure food supply for all people in the case of the imposition of tighter restrictions to stem the fast-spreading Delta variant.

Mr Quang stressed the need to select capable suppliers and distributors to ensure smooth supply of food items across the city.

Secretary Quang (left) delivered his instructions at Thursday’s meeting to discuss further measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Photo: LE HUNG

“Recently reported cases by Da Nang, especially new infections linked to the Hoa Cuong wholesale market cluster which was declared on Thursday, present as asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and act as unknown carriers of SARS-CoV-2. This indicates a number of asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 are in the community seeding potential outbreaks in Da Nang. Therefore, the municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention must develop its action plan to roll out screening programs in the most effective way in a bid to quickly detect cases, trace and isolate contacts to break the chains of transmission in the city”, the city Party chief directed.

Secretary Quang called for enhanced surveillance on people in residential settings to make sure that they are strictly practicing stay-at-home orders or face strictest penalties for non-adherence when the city imposes tighter COVID-19 curbs on local residents.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman urged the health agency and authorities at local level to ramp up their efforts to conduct COVID-19 testing for people in areas where positive cases were detected, as well as quickly identify and test all contacts and those who have been to exposure sites.

Fines of nearly VND 155 million on Thursday, August 12, were imposed on 40 people for breaking the city’s COVID-19 rules. In total, more than VND 2.1 billion worth of fines have been levied on 801 violators of the city’s COVID-19 restrictions since June 18, according to latest figures released by the Office of the municipal People’s Committee. 

Also on Thursday, the taskforce at checkpoints handled 1,023 cases involving 1,170 people for breaking the city’s COVID-19 restrictions, and issued administrative penalties to 89 people for not wearing a face mask outdoors, leaving home without a reasonable excuse, and using improper travel permits.

Reporting by LE HUNG – Translating by H.L