At the meeting (Photo: SGGP)
The Ho Chi Minh City's Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control yesterday held a press conference to provide information on the epidemic situation in the area and issues of public interest.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Pham Duc Hai, Deputy Head of the municipal Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, said city authorities have launched a vaccination drive to inoculate all adults aged over 18 (about 7.2 million people).
The plan is divided into four specific phases with the total number of vaccines to be used from August 29 to December 31 is about 8,145,900 doses. Of which, approximately 1,400,000 doses are for the first jabs while 6,745,900 doses are for the second jabs.
The city has made the best preparation for vaccination, and the distribution of the vaccine belongs to the Ministry of Health, Mr. Hai emphasized.
He recommended that if people receive the first Covid-19 jabs and they will be injected with the second compatible vaccine advising people not to wait for a vaccine, but to get an available vaccine because the best Covid-19 vaccine is the first one that is available to you earliest.
All people have a social responsibility to protect those around them and minimize the spread of disease for achieving herd immunity; therefore, they should get the vaccine
Taking about the city’s pandemic, the Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in Ho Chi Minh City said that as of 6:30 pm on August 30, the city recorded 216,314 cases of Covid-19 including 215,869 locally transmitted cases and 445 imported cases announced by the Ministry of Health.
The city's health sector accelerates taking samples for testing (Photo: SGGP)
Currently, about 40,561 patients are being treated in hospitals in HCMC including 2,463 children under 16 years old, 2,752 ventilator-associated Covid-19 critically ill patients, and 18 patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Around 2,752 patients were discharged from medical facilities on August 30 with 335 deaths. So far, the accumulative deaths from 1-1 to August 30 are 9,204 people.
According to Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Ho Chi Minh City Pham Duc Hai, the city's goal of epidemic control until August 31 has been achieved.
According to Mr. Hai, the city has basically controlled the pandemic.
He announced HCMC can’t prolong the Prime Minister’s directive 16; however, the southern metropolis can’t relax strict social distancing unless the pandemic is under control and vaccination plays a significant role.
A shipper delivers goods to residents (Photo: SGGP)
He said that the city must focus on vaccination, support package, and assistance for poor households. Additionally, the health sector must accelerate testing and taking care of Covid-19 patients at home.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha, Deputy Director of the city's Police Department’s advisory faculty said that traffic density in recent days has been relatively stable without congestion at checkpoints.
Regarding the request that people’s QR code declaration when passing through the city's checkpoints, Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha revealed thanks to the QR code declaration through the station, the City Police detected 30 cases of infected patients passing through checkpoints and two producing fake travel permits. Presently, police officers are clarifying and handling according to regulations.
As for the QR code medical declaration software, Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha said, all drivers should declare their health status when moving through checkpoints reducing congestion.
The city Police Department has cooperated with the Department of Health and agencies under the Ministry of Public Security to update Covid-19 people daily into the city's national population database; hence, all infected people will be discovered if traveling through checkpoints.
Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that Ho Chi Minh City is implementing a radical social distancing mandate, so people do not go out but can ask local administrations to help buy commodities. The Department has helped connected shipping companies with local administrations.
