Local residents in HCM City’s District 4 take their own samples for COVID-19 tests to give to health workers. VNA/VNS Photo Đinh Hằng

HCM CITY — People who have not been vaccinated and have returned to HCM City from "very high" risk areas must quarantine at home for 14 days and monitor their health for the following 14 days, according to a city Department of Health temporary instruction issued on Monday (November 1).

The instruction also requires that they be tested on three separate days. When they arrive in the city, they must call their local medical workers for guidance on quarantine. 

People who have had two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine and have an official green card on the Electronic Health Records app or certificate papers, and those who have recovered from COVID-19 within the last six months, will monitor their health at home for seven days and be tested the first day in their home.

People with only one vaccine shot will quarantine at home for seven days and monitor their health for the next seven days. They will be tested twice, including the first and seventh days.  

The department said that they should call local medical officials if they have symptoms such as cough, fever, breathing difficulty, and others.

It instructed People’s Committee in districts and Thủ Đức City to provide vaccines to people who have arrived in the city from other provinces and cities and have not been fully vaccinated.

People’s Committees in districts and Thủ Đức City should direct their agencies to record all data about incoming residents' vaccinations and the areas from where they travel.

In the last few days, the city Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has found many COVID-19 cases among people coming from other provinces and cities.  

The Department of Health is collaborating with People’s Committees in districts and Thủ Đức City to list the number of people arriving or returning to the city.

People who have come to the city from other provinces and cities should go to their local people’s committees to register for a vaccination or call 8066 of the Department of Information and Communications for vaccination registration.

People who have had the first shot but lost the certification paper will receive the second shot, the Department of Health said.

The department has asked the city Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control to instruct its sub-committees in districts and Thủ Đức City to strengthen surveillance of people coming from other provinces and cities.  

Since mid-October, many people from the Central Highlands and Mekong Delta provinces and cities have returned for work as the city has resumed many socio-economic services. VNS