Da Nang leaders highlighted the need to maintain tight controls on entry points in the city at the Da Nang COVID-19 Monitoring Committee’s regular meeting on Friday afternoon.

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (left) and municipal People’s Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh co-chair the Da Nang COVID-19 Monitoring Committee’s regular meeting on Friday afternoon. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang stated that there is an increasing number of arrivals and vehicles carrying goods into the city following its transition to the new normal. Tight controls at the entrance to Da Nang are essential to the early detection of coronavirus infections and mitigating the risk of transmissions being reintroduced from visitors, Mr Quang remarked.

The Da Nang top leader called for better coordination between authorities at local level and relevant agencies, asking for specific approaches to effective management of arrivals from other Vietnamese localities, especially drivers of vehicles carrying goods into the city. He emphasized that COVID-19 compliance and enforcement work of local authorities and competent agencies remains equally important.

Mr Quang stressed the need to enforce the regulations to have the harshest penalties for intentional violations of the city’s COVID-19 rules.

Secretary Quang urged the authorities in Thanh Khe District where a truck driver returning from COVID-19 affected locality tested positive for the virus to take all necessary measures to prevent the spread of respiratory infections with a focus on tracing all contacts and taking swift and decisive action to contain local outbreak.

Municipal People's Council Chairman Luong Nguyen Minh Triet also said that the city needs to continue to strengthen controls on entry and exit points in Da Nang in the context of many Vietnamese localities’ reopening.

Mr Triet asked the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control to work with the Quang Nam government to facilitate safe and easy travel of people in the two localities in a bid to satisfy growing travel demand from them amid COVID-19.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh highlighted the need to raise public awareness and induce their compliance with COVID-19 public health guidelines in addition to promoting the role of the COVID-19 Community Support Team in increasing adherence to COVID-19 preventative behaviours among residents in their local area.

Mr Chinh asked the municipal Department of Education and Training to develop specific plans to allow the resumption of face-to-face teaching for schools from October 15 at the earliest. He emphasized that reopening plans must be appropriate to the prevailing situation of COVID-19 in the city.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by H.L