The capacity of the grassroots health system in the fight against Covid-19 was on the agenda for the meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and leading health experts on September 15.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at a meeting on Sept 15. Photo: Dinh Nam/ VGP

At the meeting, Dam wanted to find out problems in the healthcare system and seek the most effective measures to stamp out the virus evolution in the shortest time.

The experts agreed that the healthcare system, especially at the grassroots level, must be improved to help local authorities take preparedness and respond to emergencies triggered by the pandemic.

They urged the Government to promote the vaccination campaign to soon achieve herd immunity while on-site principles on contact tracing, testing, quarantining, and treating should remain as the key measures to the fight against Covid-19.

On the same day, the Ministry of Health requested the army to spend more military medics on Tien Giang and Kien Giang that have detected hundreds of new cases over the past few days.

The two southern provinces have soon turned to hotspots after days doing a good job of curbing the spread of the pandemic.

Military medics will be tasked with quarantining, testing, vaccinating, and treating missions in affected areas. In Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the mobile medical stations have worked effectively with their support.

Today, Vietnam reports 10,585 Covid-19 infections, especially the number of people recovered is 50% higher than the new cases. Both daily cases and deaths have gradually dropped for the past week.

HCMC representatives at the press conference on Sept 15. Photo: Hcmcpv.org.vn

People in District 7, Cu Chi, and Can Gio District in HCMC can go shopping once a week from September 16.

In addition, residents in the "green zone" (safe zone) in the three districts can go for physical exercises.

Other places in the city will continue undergoing the shelter-in-place ruling from September 16 until September 30.

The city's authorities announced the plan at the press conference held on Wednesday evening.

Yesterday, the municipal Party Committee decided the reopening plans with three phases, including the first one from October 1 to October 31, the second between November 1 and January 15, 2022, and the third phase from mid-January 2022 onward.

The implementation of the plans will depend on the pandemic evolution, the municipal Party's chief Nguyen Van Nen said at the meeting on September 14.

He stressed the importance of the anti-pandemic and recovery plans in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to the city itself and the southern economic hub. The success of the recovery in the largest city will be the premise for Vietnam to shift to the new normal and step by step realize the government's "dual goal" of stamping out the virus and developing economy.

Under the plans, District 7, Can Gio, and Cu Chi Districts are subject to the reopening plans with a focus on industrial parks, export processing zones, and foreign-invested enterprises.

"With the complicated development of the disease situation with the highly contagious Delta variant, it is difficult to be sure what will happen in the future, but because of that, it does not stop when implementing necessary solutions in the area."

Accordingly, the city's critical mission is to detect infections in the community and mitigate fatalities. Ensuring social welfare is also essential for the upcoming plans.

Rules relaxed for infection-free areas in Hanoi

The capital city will allow takeaways from noon on September 16 in 22 districts that have detected no infections since September 6. The opening time is from the morning until 9:00 PM.

Other services will be subject to the resumptions: stationary, book and school supplies, refrigeration, and home appliance repair.

Tween-two out of 30 districts include Ba Dinh, Tay Ho, Hoan Kiem, Nam Tu Liem, Bac Tu Liem, Long Bien, Hoai Duc, Thanh Oai, Gia Lam, and Dong Anh.

The city will check the pandemic evolution in the next few days to decide the reopening plans after September 21, the last day of the months-long lockdown.

Concerning vaccination, as of September 15, it has inoculated nearly 90% of its adults aged above 18 with the first jabs. The city of nine million residents has more than five million people above 18.

Vietnam's Covid-19 cases. Source: MoH. Chart: Minh Vu