Da Nang People's Committee Vice Chairwoman Ngo Thi Kim Yen urged the health agency to quickly offer a third dose of coronavirus vaccine to older people and other vulnerable people in a bid to help them maximize protection and prevent possibly spreading COVID-19 to others at a meeting of the city’s COVID-19 Monitoring Committee held late afternoon on Saturday, December 11.

She emphasized that booster shots should be offered to the elderly, health care workers, people with underlying health conditions. She also stressed the need for authorities at local level to conduct to a thorough analysis of epidemic situation in their locales to enable the most effective measures to be taken to suppress the virus.

Vice Chairwoman Ngo Thi Kim Yen called on health agency to rapidly roll out third COVID-19 jabs in the city at the Saturday’s meeting. Photo: LE HUNG

Vice Chairwoman Yen stated that the number of COVID-19 cases being recorded daily in Da Nang remains high while Lien Chieu and Son Tra districts have the highest rate of infections in the city.

Mrs Yen pointed out that rapid increase in cases is partly due to subjective psychology of local residents when they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 making them ignore the 5K recommendations of the Ministry of Health. Hence, she directed local leadership to introduce strict measures to control the spread of the virus as well as enhance compliance monitoring and enforcement of COVID-19 rules in local locked down areas and high-risk areas linked to confirmed cases.

The city leader also highlighted the need to step up to treat COVID-19 patients at home to reduce the burden on local healthcare systems amid a rise in cases.

The municipal Department of Education and Training was tasked to take all necessary measures to ensure the quality of both in-person and online learning for students at all levels in the context of COVID-19.

Vice Chairwoman Yen stressed the need for enhanced anti-virus measures in industrial parks, agencies, businesses in line with the current direction. Special attention must be paid to urging every one across the city to have a part to play in the city’s fight against COVID-19 to take action to protect themselves and their wider community, Mrs Yen emphasized.

She directed the Authority of the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Parks (IPs) to create a specific plan for mobile medical stations to be set up in An Don IP in Son Tra District and Hoa Khanh IP in Lien Chieu District to conduct COVID-19 testing for primary close contacts and provide treatment for infected patients with the support of staff of the Police Hospital 199 under the Ministry of Public Security, and then submit it for the health agency and the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control for consideration.

The Authority of the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Parks was tasked to generate accurate risk assessment in local IPs to effectively respond to COVID-19.

Doctor Ton That Thanh, the Director of the Da Nang Disease Control and Prevention, said that 86 additional COVID-19 patients were discharged from the Da Nang’s hospitals on Saturday.

Currently, 1,376 infected patients are being treated at the field hospital, 112 others are receiving treatment at the Lung Hospital and 3 are under treatment at the Hoa Vang District Medical Centre.

Overall, 1.491 people, including 7 requiring critical care, are being treated for the coronavirus in Da Nang’s hospitals, of whom, 44 tested negative for the virus once while tests on 13 others came back negative twice.

In addition, 10 patients with mild illness or no symptoms are being cared for and treated at home: 9 in Son Tra District and 1 in Hai Chau District.

Da Nang has till date recorded 2,571 cases of COVID-19 after it has faced COVID-19 resurgence since October 16, 138 of which were returnees from other parts of the country.

Reporting by LE HUNG – translating by H.L