Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee, speaks at the meeting with Hoc Mon District. (Photo: SGGP)
Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Politburo Member, Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee, on the afternoon of November 7, led the delegation of HCMC leaders to work with Hoc Mon District to assess Covid-19 control and activities to restore socio-economic development in the new normal state. Vice-Chairman of HCMC People's Committee Duong Anh Duc and the leaders of some departments also joined the delegation.
Updating precisely Covid-19 cases for timely support
At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen informed that after more than a month, the situation of the Covid-19 in HCMC in general and Hoc Mon District, in particular, had eased. The city had started to prepare for the new normal period and socio-economic recovery and development. However, lately, Hoc Mon District has seen new developments of the Covid-19 pandemic as the number of Covid-19 cases tended to increase again.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, the city has already had experience in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic after the past 100 days with full of hardships, toughness, and fierceness. "We have had a relatively peaceful time and should not let the situation become as difficult and fierce as before," the Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee emphasized.
Therefore, he requested the leaders of Hoc Mon District to update the actual situation, analyze the causes of the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, and put forward effective solutions, especially the solutions that are adaptive, safe, and flexible, and effectively control the Covid-19 pandemic. He also noted that the district should take drastic actions with a sense of responsibility to quickly control the complicated developments of the pandemic in the area.
Chairman of Hoc Mon District People's Committee Duong Hong Thang informed that the Covid-19 pandemic in the district tended to increase in the past few days. At present, the district has 25 areas in seven communes with many Covid-19 cases that need attention and treatment. From October 23 to November 6, the district had recorded more than 6,700 rapid tests positive for the SARS-Cov-2 virus, mainly in the community.
Mr. Dang Quoc Quan, Director of Hoc Mon District General Hospital, added that the average number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients was about 30 cases per day, and the number of recovered ones was about 20. Since October 1, there had been 58 deaths from Covid-19, of which 46 had co-morbidities. Of the 58 deaths, three had received two injections of Covid-19 vaccines, and three had got one.
A representative of the HCMC Center for Disease Control also confirmed that there were two hot spots of Covid-19 in Hoc Mon District, namely Xuan Thoi Thuong and Ba Diem communes. According to the HCMC Center for Disease Control, the recording and detection of Covid-19 cases are now included in the management software. Therefore, Hoc Mon District needs to fully update the situation and number of Covid-19 cases to the system for timely support and aid.
Striving to control Covid-19 within a week
The leader of Hoc Mon District said that there were many reasons for the increase of Covid-19 cases. Specifically, from October 1, people had started to resume business and trading activities, and social distancing was loosened. Close contacts had happened a lot, especially in residential areas and multigenerational households. However, many people were still incautious and neglected to comply strictly with 5K and pandemic prevention regulations. Moreover, the number of workers from other places returned to the district was large (about 45,000 people), but many of them had only injected one dose of Covid-19 vaccines or even had not had any injections.
Updating precisely Covid-19 cases for timely support
At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen informed that after more than a month, the situation of the Covid-19 in HCMC in general and Hoc Mon District, in particular, had eased. The city had started to prepare for the new normal period and socio-economic recovery and development. However, lately, Hoc Mon District has seen new developments of the Covid-19 pandemic as the number of Covid-19 cases tended to increase again.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, the city has already had experience in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic after the past 100 days with full of hardships, toughness, and fierceness. "We have had a relatively peaceful time and should not let the situation become as difficult and fierce as before," the Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee emphasized.
Therefore, he requested the leaders of Hoc Mon District to update the actual situation, analyze the causes of the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, and put forward effective solutions, especially the solutions that are adaptive, safe, and flexible, and effectively control the Covid-19 pandemic. He also noted that the district should take drastic actions with a sense of responsibility to quickly control the complicated developments of the pandemic in the area.
Chairman of Hoc Mon District People's Committee Duong Hong Thang informed that the Covid-19 pandemic in the district tended to increase in the past few days. At present, the district has 25 areas in seven communes with many Covid-19 cases that need attention and treatment. From October 23 to November 6, the district had recorded more than 6,700 rapid tests positive for the SARS-Cov-2 virus, mainly in the community.
Mr. Dang Quoc Quan, Director of Hoc Mon District General Hospital, added that the average number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients was about 30 cases per day, and the number of recovered ones was about 20. Since October 1, there had been 58 deaths from Covid-19, of which 46 had co-morbidities. Of the 58 deaths, three had received two injections of Covid-19 vaccines, and three had got one.
A representative of the HCMC Center for Disease Control also confirmed that there were two hot spots of Covid-19 in Hoc Mon District, namely Xuan Thoi Thuong and Ba Diem communes. According to the HCMC Center for Disease Control, the recording and detection of Covid-19 cases are now included in the management software. Therefore, Hoc Mon District needs to fully update the situation and number of Covid-19 cases to the system for timely support and aid.
Striving to control Covid-19 within a week
The leader of Hoc Mon District said that there were many reasons for the increase of Covid-19 cases. Specifically, from October 1, people had started to resume business and trading activities, and social distancing was loosened. Close contacts had happened a lot, especially in residential areas and multigenerational households. However, many people were still incautious and neglected to comply strictly with 5K and pandemic prevention regulations. Moreover, the number of workers from other places returned to the district was large (about 45,000 people), but many of them had only injected one dose of Covid-19 vaccines or even had not had any injections.
Chairman of Hoc Mon District People's Committee Duong Hong Thang informs that the Covid-19 pandemic in the district tended to increase in the past few days. (Photo: SGGP)
Along with that, the operation of spontaneous markets is a tough problem for the district. Hoc Mon District has a large population, but many traditional markets have not yet met the set of safety criteria for Covid-19 prevention to reopen. It has triggered the rise of spontaneous markets. "In this context, the district proposes to arrange for traders to temporarily do business on the roadbed and sidewalks at spacious places, ensuring the safe distance to reduce infection," said Chairman of Hoc Mon District People's Committee. Hoc Mon District also has limited infrastructures. The district has had a plan to requisition the evidence warehouse of the district police to set up a 300-bed field hospital and use kindergartens as places to gather and treat F0 cases. The district will also set up procedures and instructions on the steps and procedures for home treatment, overcoming previous inadequacies and limitations. Secretary of Hoc Mon District Party Committee Tran Van Khuyen also informed that the district currently had about 45,000 rooms for rent with nearly 100,000 tenants, mostly freelance workers. The district had 12 commune and township-level medical centers, but only six had leaders. The private health system in the area was still thin, but its population was more than 600,000 residents, causing great pressure on the health system in the context of the pandemic. In the coming time, the district would focus on managing boarding houses, reviewing tenants, and strengthening grassroots personnel and request HCMC to have a mechanism to increase personnel to Hoc Mon District to support Covid-19 prevention. Vice-Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc noted that Hoc Mon District needed to have stricter control over the activities of spontaneous markets. The district must strengthen inspection and handling of eateries that did not comply with Covid-19 prevention regulations, especially not ensuring the 5K principle. He also requested Hoc Mon District to thoroughly perform the F0 data entry timely and accurately, at the same time tighten discipline, adjust the management process, closely monitor, and make efforts to control the pandemic effectively within a week.Controlling Covid-19 to ensure safety Mr. Nguyen Van Nen highly appreciated that the HCDC had closely monitored the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic in the area, especially the areas where Covid-19 cases tended to increase. The HCDC had also directly inspected and evaluated for the locality to acknowledge and overcome. He also praised Hoc Mon District for following recommendations of competent agencies.
Vice-Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc speaks at the meeting with Hoc Mon District. (Photo: SGGP)
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, the Covid-19 pandemic tends to recur domestically and internationally. In HCMC, the Covid-19 pandemic has also climbed slightly. "The pathogen is still circulating in the community, so if there are no measures and good organization, the number of cases will surge," he analyzed. “Many other localities of the city have not yet implemented well local management. The city has a strategy on social security, including housing issues, to improve as soon as possible and restore order," said Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, “the district should approach this strategy soon to deploy proactively.” He ordered Hoc Mon District to strengthen the organizational system from district level to commune, township, and hamlet, perform tasks as required, taking efficiency as a measure. The district must coordinate with relevant units to quickly enhance the grassroots health system and immediately resolve the shortage of grassroots medical care. Particularly, the Department of Health of HCMC must calculate to arrange medical staff at medical centers according to the population size, avoiding overload at the medical centers in densely populated wards, communes, and townships. However, the locality should not wait for a project to strengthen health care but needs to carry it out immediately, such as restructuring the local medical force and building a mechanism for them to feel assured to work. He said that the pathogen was still present in the community, and the city must not let it develop into an outbreak or Covid-19 clusters. It was necessary to quickly zone and test to prevent the source of infection and avoid an outbreak. It is also a way to avoid applying social distancing measures that affect production and business activities.
