A police officer in Hà Nội's Thanh Xuân District reminds people in a locked-down area to strictly abide by COVID-19 prevention and control regulations. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Anh

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội faces a high risk of COVID-19 outbreaks, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said on Wednesday, urging the city to keep vigilant and be prepared.

Đam who is also chairman of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control inspected concentrated quarantine areas, locked-down areas and vaccination sites in Hà Nội.

In a meeting with the city’s leaders, the Deputy PM highly praised Hà Nội authorities and the city's response to the fourth outbreak.

He particularly appreciated the effective communication between authorities and Central agencies. 

Đam said that the city must now deploy strict and drastic measures to stop the spread of the disease in the community, isolate the COVID-19-hit areas, protect and expand COVID-19-free areas and take steps to reduce the risk of further outbreaks.

“People in every residential group, in every hamlet have the responsibility to protect themselves from COVID-19. Collective efforts are key to successfully controlling the disease,” Đam said.

Emphasising the importance of testing, Đam asked the city to review and increase its testing capacity.

The private health sector in the city should be engaged further in testing work, he suggested.

Đam also urged the city’s health sector to instruct people to take COVID-19 quick tests by themselves to reduce the workload for medical workers. More medical workers could then serve in locked down areas, quarantine areas and COVID-19 treatment facilities.

The deputy PM asked the city to prepare oxygen supply systems at COVID-19 treatment areas for patients with symptoms whose health conditions are vulnerable and could become worse if they did not receive timely medical treatment.

The city was also asked to prepare COVID-19 treatment areas with proper intensive care units to minimise fatalities relating COVID-19.

The supply of essential products for people during social distancing must strictly meet disease prevention and control requirements, Đam said.

He added that in the case that the social distancing orders were extended, the list of essential goods should be adjusted to meet people’s needs.

Specific policies for deliverymen and goods delivery were also needed to ensure safety and convenience for people.  

In Hà Nội, since the first day of social distancing, municipal authorities had stopped goods carried on motorbikes by freelance shippers. Postal services and shippers put under the management enterprises have to register to get codes from the Department of Transport while freelance shippers must stop working.

Risk remains

According to Hà Nội’s Department of Health, during the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Việt Nam, Hà Nội has reported 1,429 COVID-19 cases, of that 864 cases were detected in the community outside concentrated quarantine areas or locked down areas.

The city is now able to manage outbreaks. However, the risk of growing outbreaks remains high and unpredictable because complicated COVID-19 clusters have appeared around the city with a high number of infections. Moreover, the sources of many of the infections have not been identified.

According to the city’s health department, many community cases in the city have not been detected and the city is facing a high risk of outbreaks in hospitals, factories, offices and supply chains like markets and supermarkets.

COVID-19 patients without symptoms or those with mild symptoms in the city are now taken to the COVID-19 Treatment Centre based in Đền Lừ III Urban Area in Hoàng Mai Dsitrict. The centre can handle up to 1,000 patients while a project on opening another COVID-19 treatment centre with capacity of 2,000 beds has been proposed.

Until now, Hà Nội has received 959,820 COVID-19 vaccine doses and 812,100 people in the city have been vaccinated. — VNS