Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the top priority for Ha Noi now is to fight COVID-19 as protection of the public's health and lives must be put first and foremost. 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the working session on COVID-19
response and socio-economic development with the capital city’s leaders,
Ha Noi, July 19, 2021. Photo: VGP

The Government chief stressed the point at his working session on COVID-19 response and socio-economic development with the capital city’s leaders on Monday morning.

Regarding the COVID-19 fight, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung said the pandemic situation had been basically put under control before the city recorded several community infection cases over the past few days, raising its COVID-19 tally to 437 cases since the fourth COVID-19 wave hit the country in late April.

To limit the spread of the virus, the municipal authorities decided to impose stricter preventive measures from July 19.

On socio-economic development, the city’s economy expanded 5.91 percent in the first six months of 2021, compared to 2.92 percent of the same period last year.

Total budge revenue rose by 7.7 percent on year and accounted for 53.3 percent of this year’s plan, Dinh said.

The city also provided financial support worth VND 608 billion to more than 515,000 citizens affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinh added.

According to Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh, Ha Noi has designed three growth scenarios for the second half of this year.

In the first scenario, the city’s GDP is projected to grow 8.59 percent and 9.12 percent in the third and the last quarters.

For the second scenario, the city’s economy is projected to expand 7.45 percent and 7.85 percent in the third and the last quarter if the COVID-19 pandemic is put under control nationwide in July.

In the third scenario, the economy is expected to grow 6.17 percent and 6.44 percent in the third and fourth quarters if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve complicatedly and is only contained in the third quarter./.