Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang on Tuesday afternoon highlighted need for the heath agency to work closely with authorities at local level to identify appropriate areas within the Red zone to enable effective measures to be taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (left) and municipal People'’s Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh co-chaired the Tuesday’s meeting to discuss further measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

Secretary Quang stated that alleys, locked down areas and apartment blocks are very high risk areas for COVID-19 cases as many confirmed cases have been identified in these venues.

Mr Quang remarked that there are still active cases in the community although the fourth round of mass testing has been rolled out across the city.

He emphasized that the most important task for authorities at local level is to take more drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus in alleys and apartment building.

The Da Nang top leader stressed the need to determine the size of the red zone for COVID-19 risk in order to beef up testing, monitoring and quarantine efforts in a bid to break the chains of transmission.

The municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control will introduce new measures after September 5 with high priority given to implementing more effective containment measures against COVID-19 in red zones.

Mr Quang called for better co-ordination between the municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and authorities to identify appropriate areas within the Red zone, especially alleys and apartment buildings classified as red zones for COVID-19. He highlighted need to clearly identify COVID-19 contacts who are all neighbours living near the property of COVID-19 case and all their family members in high risk red zones in order to appropriately isolate them to prevent further spread in their community.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh directed authorities at local level to reduce the number of COVID-19 primary close contacts in designated quarantine facilities to allow space for social distancing in an attempt to prevent cross transmission among the quarantined people.   

District authorities and relevant agencies were asked to set up helplines to provide timely support for those who need it.

Da Nang leaders will look at the results of the fourth round of the citywide mass testing and latest advice from health officials to identify appropriate next steps in the city’s battle against the deadly disease.

Chairman Chinh stressed the need to raise public awareness about the city’s pet rules in order to ensure their stringent compliance with the rules in a bid to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by H.L