Covid-19 weekly update in Vietnam - Week 5 July, 2021

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Vietnamese still experienced a sharp increase in cases positive for covid-19 during the past week. However, the efforts of medical staff and the government have shown good results on the prevention and the fight against Coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City.

GENERAL SUMMARY
According to given statistics, the total number of patients in Vietnam did not cease to rise each and every day. It was reported that this number had exceeded the threshold of 7.000 patients per day.

With the ability to spread rapidly, there were multiple regions confirmed having detected new infected areas: Hai Duong, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Quang Tri, Quy Nhon, etc. Such circumstances brought new worries to all local authorities as well as the government. On the contrary, the medical staff and the responsible forces have practiced immediate actions to isolate the areas, trace the F0 source and help prevent expansion in local residences.

In order to control the fast pace of expansion of the virus, the country managed to import more doses of vaccine (Moderna of the U.S and Astrazeneca of the U.K). The loads of vaccine were then divided and transported to different regions and provinces in Vietnam. The government also advised that citizens should prioritize HCM City as this is the widest infection area of the country. At the same time, news from the U.S said that the Delta version of Corona can still create the same amount of virus either in vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals. Therefore, a vaccinated person can still get infected with the virus and can still spread the disease to others. The good point is that he/she can have a better immune system towards the Coronavirus.

Meanwhile, in isolated residences, daily life has become much more difficult for all. Their physiological needs are hard to achieve (Health, food) as people are ordered to stay indoors. To improve such situations, there are responsible forces to help citizens meet their needs. For instance, in HCM City, medical staff and in-charge cadres support the residents by offering groceries every two or three days for all households.
In addition, since people are asked to reduce going outside, they also decrease the frequency of going to hospital for other diseases check-ups. Instead, they make use of a mobile application called “VOV bacsi24” - an app for patients to find doctors’ aid, make health checks and get support for their own diseases without having to go to the clinics or hospitals.

HANOI PANDEMIC UPDATE
From Saturday 24th July, 2021, Hanoi has started its fourth isolation period. It has been more than one week but the efficiency is nowhere to be seen. The authorities can still detect cross infection in public and some individuals do not obey strictly the restrictions. As a result, the number of patients in Hanoi found each day remains rather high.
Due to that, the government has enhanced the regulations and ordered Hanoians to stay indoors and have to show a permission paper if anyone intends to go out. If not, he/she will be fined up to three millions VND. Furthermore, as Vietnamee traditional markets still open everyday, the citizens now have to show an attestation for groceries shopping at their local market. Plus they can only go to the market at a fixed time and date as described on the attestation. This restriction is to simplify the tracing process in case of any infections found in local areas.

The capital of Hanoi was glad to have received the support from Mai Linh taxi Company. The company offered help by sending taxis to serve the tasks of transporting patients, which allowed the medical staff and the responsible forces to quickly take actions in the fight against Covid-19.
Meanwhile, a wide range vaccination campaign has taken place within the capital city. The authorities expected to give vaccine injections to approximately 5,1 millions Hanoians, from 18 - 65 years old. They are divided into 10 different groups in prioritized order to practice a correct and transparent process of vaccination. Also, there is another field hospital being built in Hoang Mai District to treat severe cases of Covid-19 in Hanoi. Hopefully, the hospital can start to serve in 1 month, just as planned.

HO CHI MINH CITY PANDEMIC UPDATE
Within last week, HCMC still detected a great deal of infections both in public quarantines and through social interaction. The cases passed the range of 4.000 most days. On the contrary, the number of infections per day gradually decreased by the end of the week.
With the not-yet-controlled outbreak situation in HCMC, more groups are heading south to support HCMC in the prevention of Covid-19 expansion (medical students, navy students, voluntary individuals). Hanoi continued to send help forces to HCMC, specifically, nurses from Bach Mai hospital were transferred there to deliver necessary tasks. There were also 200 taxis starting to serve as transportation for covid-19 patients just as in Hanoi.

While the pandemic in HCMC has not been properly under control, the city will be applying social isolation continuously after the 1st August. The restriction will also be applied for other southern provinces to make sure the prevention goes well. At the same time, there were new restrictions allowing patients to take quarantine at home, they must be of these two groups:
- Group 1: F0 found in public, taking treatment in quarantine. After 7 days, they can return home for self quarantine in the next 14 days.
- Group 2: F0 without any symptoms, background diseases or treated background diseases. They are to take self quarantine at home in 14 days
The Ministry of Health advised these two groups to prudently follow the guidelines for prevention of cross infection at their local resident.

TOURISM IN VIETNAM UPDATE
As mentioned in previous updates, the province of Kien Giang was making requests to open the borders for tourist activities in Phu Quoc island as a trial after the pandemic. By far, the government and the relevant authorities are bound to agree to the demand. Therefore, the province of Kien Giang is expecting to execute the vaccination campaign for about 95% of Phu Quoc habitants. They are individuals from the age of 18 to 65 (up to 127.607 people). Kien Giang’’s authorities are seeking to give vaccination to the local habitants as soon as they receive the doses of vaccine until the end of September.

At the same time, the Administration of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism  and the government of Vietnam are working closely with the local authorities of Kien Giang province as well as its responsible subordinate units. They are trying to come up with a specific and appropriate plan to initiate the test campaign for Vietnam’s tourism after the pandemic.

It is also said that the test campaign, along with the use of vaccination visas, will be a positive sign to the tourism industry of Vietnam. It will help recover the international marketplace frozen since March 2020.
Stay in touch with Trusted DMC for more weekly updates on Vietnam’s pandemic and tourism situation

* Source: Báo VnExpress, Báo Tiền phong, Báo Thanh niên, Báo Công an nhân dân, Báo Công an TPHCM, Báo Tuổi trẻ, Báo Giao thông, Báo UNICEF Vietnam, Vietnamplus, Vietnamnet, Baomoi, Bộ Công thương Việt Nam, Du lịch Việt Nam
Previous weeks updates
- Week 4, July 2021
- Week 3, July 2021