Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has honored medical workers and those working in health sector as the country celebrates the traditional holiday amid high alert of Covid-19 fight.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long. Photo: VGP

Healthcare workers are at the frontline of the pandemic and they are working around the clock, putting themselves and their families at risk to care for others, Phuc made the statement ahead of the week-long holiday which last until February 17.

“I know that many people have joined the fight against Covid-19 far from home for a year while students of medical schools have voluntarily participate in the battle, in the outbreaks without coming home for Tet holiday [the Lunar New Year],” said the PM. “Such sacrifice has touched others’ hearts and must be honored.”

On the occasion of Tet holiday, the PM decided the allowance to frontline workers who dedicate their efforts in the Covid-19 battle.

Frontline workers are those who greatly contribute to the country’s pandemic containment and economic recovery that secures Vietnam’s position as one of few economies posting economic growth in 2020, he affirmed.

In the time to come, he asks authorized agencies to ensure deserving awards to health workers and they should be well-equipped to prevent transmission among the force. He also required them to keep vigilance on the pandemic and get ready for all circumstances.

Health workers greatly contribute to the country's fight against Covid-19. Photo: Baobaria

Sharing information at the online meeting, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son who leads a special task force in Ho Chi Minh City said they get ready to spend Tet holiday in the outbreak areas.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the health sector has conducted contact tracing, quarantining, and taking reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test within 24 hours. All people who made contact with confirmed cases (F0) are quarantined while those who made contact with suspected cases (F1) are required to undergo home quarantine with commitments to safety protocols.

According to Associate Prof. Tran Nhu Duong, deputy head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), who leads a team of leading health professionals in the northern province of Hai Duong, the first locality recorded the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam after two months, nobody in the team has come home since they were sent there on January 27.

In Hai Duong, the health sector has traced contact of 12,000 people who made contact with confirmed cases and tested roughly 75,000 people. So far, Hai Duong remain the most infected locality with 356 local infections since January 27.

Dr Than Manh Hung from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hanoi, said he and his co-workers have spent two Tet holidays fighting against the pandemic. This year, they are prepared for all scenarios, even the worst one, in a confident manner unlike the mood when they treated the first cases coming from China’s Wuhan last year.