Amid an increasingly complicated situation regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Ho Chi Minh City held a meeting on July 28 to carry out a range of pandemic prevention and control measures.

Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City’s Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan hosts the meeting 

Upon reporting on updates about the disease situation across the southern city, Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the Municipal Department of Health, noted that Ho Chi Minh City has recorded a total of 62 coronavirus cases, with all of the patients being cured and subsequently being discharged from hospitals. 

Most notably, from April 3 there had been no new locally transmitted infections for 116 consecutive days. At present, as many as 449 people have been put into isolation at concentrated quarantine areas while 237 others are self-isolating at home or in their places of residence.

Between July 1 and July 26 a total of 4,907 people returned to Ho Chi Minh City from the newly-detected COVID-19 hotspot of Da Nang, with the majority now self-isolating at home for a 14-day period. Of which, 1,359 people had been tested for the virus, with 167 showing negative results.

The southern metropolis also requires all passengers to undergo a health check, fill out a medical declaration, and have samples taken to test for COVID-19 when being held at the quarantine area at Tan Son Nhat International Airport and other entry points.

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Le Thanh Liem requested that departments, sectors, and districts work closely to monitor the evolution of COVID-19, in addition to helping local people get more information on epidemic prevention and control.

He also asked local police to tighten their monitoring of foreigners and Vietnamese nationals who have recently arrived from epidemic-hit areas, thereby swiftly detecting and quarantining COVID-19 cases in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidance. Indeed, local residents are also required to wear face masks in public places.

The southern city will act in order to ensure supply of essential goods remain, even in the worst-case scenario for the pandemic. Municipal departments, sectors, and districts must also submit plans to cope with the pandemic and be ready for every scenario.

At the event, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City’s Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan urged local authorities to work hand in hand to detect and investigate rings of illegal immigrants as a way of slowing the spread of the virus to the wider community.