Passengers make medical declarations at Tân Sân Nhất airport. Việt Nam's Ministry of Health will strengthen supervision and take more samples for COVID-19 testing at border gates. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Thị Liên Hương has stressed the importance of strengthening supervision and taking more samples for COVID-19 testing at border gates, alongside maintaining the current pandemic prevention and control measures.

Addressing a meeting on disease surveillance and the response of the Public Health Emergency Operations Centres (PHEOC) under the Ministry of Health on January 2, the official said Việt Nam needs to make careful preparations to effectively control the pandemic in the context of some countries changing their COVID-19 control policy.

Localities with border gates need to take samples from the community and review the capacity of treatment and accommodation facilities to serve visitors, Hương stated.

After China decided to open the border and lift COVID-19 quarantine measures from January 8, health experts said the border opening could increase the number of COVID-19 cases. Still, Việt Nam is unlikely to be at risk of an outbreak because of its community immunity.

According to Dr Phan Trọng Lân, Director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, local departments of health must continue strictly implementing medical quarantine activities specified in Decree 89/ND-CP by the Government, which details several articles of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases on border health quarantine.

Sharing Lân's viewpoint, Assoc. Prof. Dr Trần Như Dương, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, suggested that attention should also be paid to communication activities so that passengers can proactively declare their health situation and implement infection prevention measures.

Heads of units under the Ministry of Health and directors of the health departments of localities nationwide have been required to shore up vigilance against the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health has asked localities, especially those with border gates, to speed up the vaccination scheme, trying to complete their goals in the first two weeks of January.

The same day, the Ministry of Public Security held an online conference to popularise Decree 93/2022/ND-CP dated November 7, 2022, on ensuring security and order at air border gates.

The decree is an important document, creating the legal foundation for public security forces to roll out measures to ensure security and order at air border gates, contributing to safeguarding aviation security in any circumstances. —- VNS