Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has highlighted the role of the military in protecting the country in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc with army leaders. Photo: VGP

“The national crucial role of the military is clearly revealed in cases of security threats, natural disasters, and epidemic,” Prime Minister Phuc said at a meeting on Sunday with the Military Medical Department under the Ministry of Defense.

The meeting gathered the top defense officials and representatives of 50 units across the country that are joining the battle against the pandemic.

Since the breakout of the pandemic in Vietnam in mid-January, military forces have shared responsibilities for quarantine. Accordingly, military barracks have accommodated thousands of people from epidemic-hit areas.

All costs in the 14-day quarantine are covered by the government.

The Chemical Army conducts disinfection in a Hanoi street. Photo: Congly

Military forces also assume responsibilities for transporting people to the quarantine facilities and disinfecting areas having infected people and places under high risk of transmission.

At the meeting, the PM emphasized the importance of infection-free military zones.

So far, military barracks have offered quarantine to nearly 37,000 people. Of 18,000 now under quarantine at 110 military facilities, 6,000 Vietnamese returned from China, 795 from South Korea, nearly 5,000 from Europe, the UK, and the US, more than 6,000 from ASEAN, and 362 foreigners.