The battle against the novel coronavirus has yet to come to an end, and together with the rest of the world, Vietnam is on standby to deal with it, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.

The National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control agrees that the fight against the coronavirus epidemic has yet to come to an end as the risk of infection remains imminent in society 

Dam, who is also head of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, made the statement at a meeting of the committee in Hanoi on May 21.

He noted that COVID-19 is evolving in a complex manner globally with more than 5 million cases confirmed and over 325,000 deaths reported in 215 countries and territories worldwide.

In Southeast Asia alone, as many as 72,600 infections and nearly 2,300 deaths have been confirmed. Singapore represented the highest number of infections (over 29,000) while Indonesia had the largest number of deaths (over 1,200). Only Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Timor Leste have reported no deaths so far.

As of May 21 Vietnam has recorded a total of 234 infection cases, of which more than half returned from epidemic hit countries and were detected in quarantine centres. Currently, 58 active patients are receiving treatment at centrally and locally-run health facilities, with less than 10 having tested negative for the virus.

“Vietnam has basically brought the epidemic under control, but has yet to win it,” Dam said at the meeting.

Though there have been no new community infections for the past 35 days, he said the risk of infection remains imminent from five groups, namely Vietnamese citizens returning from overseas, foreign experts, diplomatic & official passport holders, air crewmembers, and people crossing border gates.

He requested that the Ministry of Transport and localities continue tightening control at border gates and quarantining all passengers, including crewmembers, according to regulations.

He also reminded relevant ministries, localities and people to remain highly vigilant about the second wave of infection in Vietnam.