Deputy Head of Steering Committee Pham Duc Hai told the press that the city implements synchronous measures agaisnt Omicron variant
At the press conference to provide information on the epidemic situation in the area and issues of public concern on January 20 held by the Steering Committee for Covid-19 prevention and economic recovery in the southern largest city, Deputy Head of Steering Committee Pham Duc Hai said that as of 6 pm on January 19, Ho Chi Minh City had recorded 512,731 cases of coronavirus announced by the Ministry of Health, including 511,991 cases of infection in the community, 740 cases of entry.
According to Mr. Duc Hai, some 108 cases of Covid-19 have been detected in the country due to the Omicron variant including 68 in Ho Chi Minh City.
As recommended by the Ministry of Health, the new variant is likely will spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown. For instance, the infection rate of the Omicron variant is seven times higher in the unvaccinated group and three times higher in the group who are not fully vaccinated, so people need to get full doses of the vaccines and keep calm.
Regarding medical declaration, Mr. Hai advised people to strictly fill out the medical declaration. He requested responsible agencies and units to strictly implement it.
He revealed that city administrations have been implementing synchronous solutions to deal with this variation, people are very calm, continue to implement 5K, and get vaccines.
Currently, HCMC has not changed activities such as flower street, spring flower festivals. He stressed that people’s compliance has become the most crucial factor in the nation's fight against the pandemic.
According to Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, as of January 20, Ho Chi Minh City had 68 cases of Omicron variant including 65 imported cases and three community cases.
Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai speaks at the press conference
In the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to carry out active epidemic prevention and control activities as well as trace close contacts in the epidemic area with new cases of infection. In addition, healthcare workers carried out genomic sequencing involves decoding the genetic material of a virus. Genomic sequencing is crucial in the battle against the coronavirus
During the Lunar New Year, the city still maintains epidemic prevention and control activities, said the Chief of Office of the city Department of Health.
In response to the question of whether it is necessary to trace F1 related to Omicron cases when Vietnam has lived and adapted to Covid-19, Ms. Mai said that under the Ministry of Health’s direction, close contacts of infection cases of the new variant are still eligible for home isolation if they satisfy regulations.
Regarding the results of tracing cases related to Omicron cases, the health sector in Ho Chi Minh City detected 11 close contacts. After tracing, three people who are positive for SARS-CoV-2 were discovered and brought to the twelfth field hospital for treatment and gene sequencing. The remaining cases are isolated at home.
