According to WHO, health agencies in countries kept recording the Covid-19 new sub-variants including sub-variants such as XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, EG.5, BA.2.86, JN.1 that healthcare workers need to monitor these rates closely.
The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday sent an official dispatch to the center for international health quarantine and disease control centers of provinces and cities with medical quarantine activities, requesting to increase medical quarantine work in border crossings.
The Ministry of Health stated that the World Health Organization (WHO) recorded the Covid-19 new sub-variants in early 2024 including the above-mentioned sub-variant lineages. Along with that, other dangerous and emerging epidemics are still recorded in many parts of the world. For instance, Nipah disease has been recorded in India, influenza A/H5N1 in Cambodia, H1N2 influenza in the UK, and MERS-CoV in the Middle East while respiratory diseases are increasing in some countries.
The Ministry of Health requires the above-mentioned responsible health units to regularly update information on infectious diseases in the world that are highly likely to enter the country for proactive adoption of monitoring and prevention measures immediately at border gates. Moreover, strict supervision at border gates is promptly carried out to handle suspected and intercept infected cases, especially during the Lunar New Year and festival season in Vietnam.
At the same time, related healthcare units should build and update procedures for implementing medical quarantine activities at each border gate according to the Ministry’s instructions in addition to updates of contingency plans to respond to epidemic situations at each border gate, including plans and scenarios for epidemic prevention during the Lunar New Year with the participation of border gate and local health authorities.
