Pham Duc Hai at the press brief (Photo: SGGP)
He made the statement at the Steering Committee’s press brief yesterday afternoon to provide information on the battle against Covid-19.
Speaking at the press brief, Mr. Hai said that till September 16, the southern metropolis has had 315,623 Covid-19 infection cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health. Presently, approximately 41,297 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospitals.
Some 2,507 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals on September 15. Accordingly, the city has recorded around 161,007 recoveries and 12,768 deaths from the beginning of the year.
Regarding vaccination, the city has administered 8,452,609 Covid-19 vaccine shots on September 15. Some 6,667,018 people received the first dose of the vaccine while 1,785,591 received the second shots.
Additionally, the social welfare center has given approximately 1,791,160 support packages to poor and near-poor households from August 15 to September 16.
The city has proposed a shortening interval between AstraZeneca vaccine doses, Dr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy Head of the city Department of Health, said that as per the Ministry of Health’s recommendation, the gap between two doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is eight to 12 weeks while it is three weeks for Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine and four weeks for Moderna vaccine.
For the past time, the city has followed strictly to the Ministry’s guidance; however, there have been studies that the interval between two AstraZeneca vaccine doses can be six weeks. Practically, the city has shortened the interval; for instance, the HCMC-based Hospital for Tropical Diseases has inoculated the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in six weeks proving it effectively.
The city targets to raise the vaccine coverage rate for herd immunity to quickly control the pandemic.
Currently, the city is detecting 4,000- 6,000 infection cases daily. In the first phase, the rate of people who were positive for Covid-19 in red and orange zones accounted for 3.6 percent but it was 2.7 percent in the second phase and 1.1 percent in the third phase. In the upcoming time, the city will continue carrying out tests to discover all infected people, said Dr. Nam.
About the issuance of road permits and control of shipper traffic on the road during the continued social distancing mandates, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha, Deputy Head of the Municipal Department of Public Security, said police has not issued road permits anymore, but the Department of Industry and Trade will send the list of legal shippers to the city police and updates it on the software for the police force to control. Police officers will check the identification by cards, wristbands, costumes, orders; and shippers must declare health on the VNEID electronic medical declaration application.
Legal app-based delivery workers who travel among different districts must have a negative test certificate within two days according to the regulations of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
Moreover, delivery workers of an enterprise who have been just allowed to deliver in one district and Thu Duc City must have a negative test result every two days.
In addition, the Department of Industry and Trade recorded that more than 30,000 shippers received the first Covid-19 vaccine shot meeting the requirements of delivery activities in accordance with regulations. From September 17, dwellers in District 7 can go to local markets once a week. A household will be given vouchers to go to supermarkets but market-goers must be vaccinated with at least one dose.
To ensure the supply of essential commodities to residents, city administrations have allowed the operation of three wholesale markets including Binh Dien Market from September 7, Thu Duc Market from September 17 and Hoc Mon Market from September 19.
