During his meeting with members of the Da Nang COVID-19 Monitoring Committee on Tuesday afternoon, municipal Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang highlighted need to take immediate action to seal off COVID-19 hotspots after new cases are detected. The focus must be on ramping up efforts to conduct testing for all residents living in COVID-19 hotspots in order to quickly find cases and isolate them, Mr Quang emphasised.

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (left) and municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh co-chaired the Tuesday’s meeting. Photo: LE HUNG

Mr Quang stated that the fresh COVID-19 case tally in Da Nang has touched the single-digit mark for many consecutive days but the city reported new infections in double digits on Tuesday, September 21, thereby asking authorities at local level and relevant agencies to make intensive efforts to enable appropriate measures to be taken to contain the spread of the virus.

The Da Nang top leader directed authorities in Hai Chau and Lien Chieu districts to quickly moved people in alleys labeled as hotspots to safe places in a bid to prevent the spread of virus in addition to beefing up testing efforts to find hidden infections. Son Tra District was asked to strictly handle violation of the Mai Anh Company located in An Hai Ward, and impose harsh penalty on it for non-compliance with measures against COVID-19.

Mr Quang urged the health agency and authorities to accelerate the COVID vaccine rollout to ensure that all adults aged 18 and above across Da Nang receive their first life-saving jab as the government looks to beat COVID-19 and loosen additional restrictions.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh urged authorities in Hai Chau, Lien Chieu and Hoa Vang districts to must act fast to conduct COVID-19 testing for residents in new hotspots in an effort to find all cases, and move quickly to stamp out local outbreaks, especially in Thuan Phuoc Ward.

The health officials were asked to give advice and recommendations to the municipal administration to create appropriate plans for the city's transition to a new normal in line with the guidelines from the Ministry of Health.

Mr Chinh also said that the city will facilitate people who wish to leave for their destinations but proper precautions must be put in place in order to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 to other localities from these people.

The city leader pledged that the government will take effective measures to ensure equitable and timely access to COVID-19 financial support packages for eligible beneficiaries in an attempt make sure no one is left behind amid COVID-19 crisis.

Doctor Tran Thanh Thuy, the Deputy Director of the muncicipal Department of Health, said that Da Nang hopes to receive enough vaccines from the Ministry of Health to administer the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 95% of its adult population and give second shot to 20% of its adults by late October.

From today, September 22, the city will roll out the eighth round of mass community testing. Accordingly, all residents in red zones will get tested for COVID-19 while the ‘one door-one test’ campaign will be conducted for 50% of the families in yellow and green areas.

Reporting by LE HUNG – Translating by H.L