Vietnam to consider announcing end of COVID-19 pandemic: Government Office. (Photo: SK&ĐS)

The Government Office has issued an official document on COVID-19 prevention and control in the new context, mentioning the possibility of announcing the end of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned the Ministry of Health to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to prepare a dossier to reclassify COVID-19 from group A to group B infectious disease and announce the end of the pandemic and submit it to the PM for consideration.

According to the document, PM Chinh also assigned the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the Government Office to hold a meeting on May 27, 2023, to announce the completion of work of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The ministry is requested to, based on the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the actual situation of the pandemic in Vietnam, develop a plan for sustainable management and control of COVID-19 in the 2023 – 2025 period.

The document noted that WHO has declared COVID-19 no longer a global health emergency, yet the pandemic is still present and is still a part of everyday life.

Countries still need to improve their response capacity, not let their guard down.

WHO can still restore a global health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic at any time if the situation is critical, the document said.

According to the health ministry, the death rate from COVID-19 in Vietnam has so far been much lower than the global rate of 0.99 per cent.

This is a figure showing the efforts of Vietnam’s COVID-19 treatment capacity over the past three years, with a very timely shift of prevention and control strategy.

In order to reduce deaths from COVID-19, the ministry has directed health facilities to continue to be vigilant for COVID-19 and early detection of infection cases.

Resuscitation and dialysis facilities, and those with patients in critical conditions must closely examine to detect early and isolate to avoid transmission to other patients.

The ministry also continues to update the plan, mobilise the support of international organisations for training on emergency resuscitation for COVID-19 treatment especially on mechanical ventilation.

Medical facilities are requested to strengthen infection control measures to limit the spread of disease in hospitals.