Online meeting between permanent Government members and authorities of Ho Chi Minh City and adjacent Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An provinces (Photo: VOV)

312 communes and wards in the city should be 312 fortresses for pandemic prevention and control, according to an online meeting between permanent Government members and authorities of Ho Chi Minh City and adjacent Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An provinces which have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested stringent social distancing measures to block the source of infections, reduce infections, and minimize the number of deaths. 

“ Reducing mortality is what we need to give priority to. I request that city leaders, together with the Ministry of Health, the army, and police find out where there is a shortage of clinics, oxygen, or medicine to provide what they need. If patients are detected and approached at the very beginning, mortality rate will be reduced.”

The Prime Minister said the disease spreads between people, so preventing the pandemic is to prevent the source of human-to-human transmission. To do so, strict and thorough isolation between people and people, family and family, commune and commune, district and district, province and province must be implemented. Residents must “stay where they are”  and all their needs must be met, according to Mr. Chinh.

“If the lockdown is tight, food, clothing, and health care must be provided to the people. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the ward health station, medical staff and police. Vehicles of the army and police must increase the delivery of goods to residential areas.”

Prime Minister Chinh called for speedy testing under the guidance of the Ministry of Health with appropriate forms, including testing at home, to separate infected cases from the community. He also suggested the possibility of moving people out of their residential areas to reduce population density as experienced by some provinces in the north.

The Prime Minister assigned Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh to continue promoting vaccine diplomacy, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai to be in charge of logistics, finance, and national reserves, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam to be responsible for pandemic response and health, and Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh to be in charge of goods supply. All must perform their duties with the highest sense of responsibility to serve the people, the Prime Minister said.