Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting (Photo: SGGP)
The PM cum Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control spoke the statement while chairing a nationwide online meeting with localities on epidemic prevention and control during the Lunar New Year. The meeting aimed to review and grasp the epidemic situation, especially considering arising and noteworthy issues to have proactive solutions to handle promptly.
According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Vietnam has so far recorded 166 cases of Omicron variant infection including six domestically-infected cases in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and 160 people arriving in the country from 22 countries on 49 flights and through the land border gate in the Southern Province of Tay Ninh. The passengers in these flights have been isolated upon entry, and their health is stable.
According to statistics of the Ministry of Health, the number of cases in the community decreased by 4.1 percent while the number of deaths decreased by 13.8 percent, the number of hospitalizations decreased by 7.3 percent, the number of severe cases decreased by 13.9 percent compared with the previous week.
Nationwide, the number of community cases increased by 21.2 percent, the number of deaths decreased by 7.5 percent, the number of recovered cases increased by 6.2 percent, the number of hospitalizations increased by 3.4 percent and the number of severe and critical cases decreased by 11.6 percent compared to the previous month.
Comparing January 2022 and December 2021, the number of deaths per 100,000 population in January 2022 was recorded as five cases.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the coming time, travel demand during the Lunar New Year and festive seasons in 2022 is expected to surge; therefore, many chains of infection will likely continue to be recorded and there is a potential risk of disease spread in the community including the Omicron variant and possibly even new variants.
In the context of gradually opening up social activities and economic development again, hospitalizations are expected to increase; thereby, putting great pressure on the health care system, especially affecting the healthcare for groups of elderly people and people with underlying medical conditions.
The Ministry of Health has regularly exchanged with the World Health Organization to update timely information about this variant which the Ministry will base on this to formulate preventive measures against the epidemic.
In the opening speech, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the meeting aimed to review and evaluate the epidemic prevention and control work from the last meeting of the Steering Committee, emerging issues, and lessons learned from experience in the coming time. Vietnam aims to prevent and control the epidemic effectively but people can enjoy the New Year celebration safely.
The Prime Minister emphasized a rapid Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the spring of 2022 intending to complete the second shots of vaccine for people aged 12-17 years old by the end of January.
Additionally, healthcare workers must administer inoculation of the booster shots for people 18 years of age and older in the first quarter. Furthermore, vaccination rollouts should be conducted on children from 5-to 11 years old.
In particular, the Prime Minister noted, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee chaired a meeting on the school opening schedule as well as plans and road maps to welcome international tourists.
