Da Nang People's Committee Vice Chairman Ngo Thi Kim Yen called on authorities at local level and relevant units to implement the most effective measures to curb the spread of the virus in COVID-19 hotspots during her meeting with members of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control held late on Saturday, January 22.

Vice Chairwoman Ngo Thi Kim Yen chaired Saturday’s meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

Mrs Yen stated that the daily COVID-19 caseload of Da Nang continued to increase, with 973 new cases reported on Saturday. She said that concerns are rising with new hotspots reported in such wet markets as Cam Le, Han and Con markets.

She warned of potential rapid increase of COVID-19 infections from now until Tet Festival due to growing shopping demand for Tet goods from local residents, requiring more vigorous mitigation measures, including coronavirus testing, to be put in place at such high-risk areas as wet markets. She warned that shopping at these venues carried the highest risk of catching COVID-19, thereby urging everyone across the city to follow the city’s COVID-19 guidelines to protect themselves and others.   

Vice Chairwoman Yen directed the health agency to maximize available resources to effectively manage COVID-19 patients at home. The heed must be paid on using staff of private medical facilities who are willing to support the city’s efforts to provide monitoring and care for patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms at home in a bid to reduce the pressure on local public healthcare system, Mrs Yen emphasized.     

The Da Nang leader highlighted the need to set up mobile medical stations in industrial parks to prepare for future COVID-19 patients. The Authority of the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Parks was tasked to develop an action plan for welcoming immigrant workers back to the city after Tet in order to ensure a safe return to work for them. Attention must be paid to conducting COVID-19 screening for these returnees in efforts to early detect cases and timely isolate them. The purpose is to ensure the continuity of production for local business after Tet.

Mrs Yen stressed the need for the health agency to create appropriate plans for the city’s COVID-19 booster vaccination programme before and after Tet in line with the current direction from the national government.

According to the Da Nang Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said that 248 additional COVID-19 patients were discharged from Da Nang’s hospitals on Saturday. There are just 956 remaining active cases of COVID-19 that are being treated in local healthcare facilities.

Besides, there are currently 7,702 patients who have no symptoms or mild symptoms that are being monitored and isolated to recover at home.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by H.L