Healthcare workers in a COVID-19 patient care unit. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health (MoH) has proposed amending the regulations related to COVID-19 as the number of new cases has consistently remained low in recent weeks.

In the draft proposal submitted to the government, the ministry suggested shortening the average incubation period to four days and the time without detecting new cases to eight days. 

These changes could serve as a basis for declaring the end of the infectious disease outbreak earlier than the current regulations, which stipulate that the average incubation period is 14 days and the time without detecting new cases is 28 days.

According to MoH, this amendment is based on scientific evidence, the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and recommendations from the World Health Organisation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

Additionally, in the proposal, the ministry highlighted a comparison between the regulations in the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and the actual pandemic situation in Việt Nam. This comparison indicates that COVID-19 no longer meets the criteria for an infectious disease in group A.

Specifically, from the beginning of the year to 31 August, Việt Nam recorded 97,628 cases of COVID-19, with an average of approximately 12,000 cases per month. The monthly average cases have decreased 12 times compared to 2021 (around 144,000 cases per month) and 68 times compared to 2022 (about 816,000 cases per month).

The death rate due to COVID-19 reduced from 1.86 per cent in 2021 to 0.1 per cent in 2022 and currently stands at 0.02 per cent in 2023. This is equivalent to or lower than the mortality rates of some common infectious diseases in group B recorded in Việt Nam over the past five years, such as dengue fever, malaria, diphtheria, and whooping cough.

The causative agent of COVID-19 has been identified as the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

According to MoH, since the beginning of the pandemic, Việt Nam has recorded 11,623,605 cases, ranking 13th out of 231 countries and territories.

Việt Nam ranks 120th out of 231 countries and territories in terms of the infection rate per one million people.

The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 to date is 43,206, or 0.4 per cent of the total infections. — VNS