Staff at Lào Cai International Border Gate use machines to measure the body temperature of people entering Việt Nam through the border gate. — VNA/VNS Photo Quốc Khánh

HCM CITY — Departments of education and training, schools, English centres and hotels are taking preventive measures against the spread of the deadly coronavirus which has killed 213 in China as of Friday.

Three Vietnamese people and two Chinese tourists have tested positive for the virus in Việt Nam, as of Friday, according to the Ministry of Health.

Following instructions from the Ministry of Education and Training, all educational departments including Hà Nội and HCM City departments of education and training have instructed schools to regularly clean and disinfect their facilities and environment to prevent the spread of the virus.

Day-boarding schools have been asked to wash sleeping mats and blankets, and clean rooms.

Students have been reminded to wash hands before and after going to the toilet and use preventive measures such as alcohol-based hand rubs or soap and water to frequently clean hands; cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing with a tissue or cough or sneeze inside a bent elbow; and avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever and cough.

If students have a fever, they should stay at home, said Bùi Thị Diễm Thu, deputy head of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, adding that school staff should measure temperatures of their students.  

Students in many provinces and cities will return to school next Monday. 

Many schools have sent announcements about the disease and preventive measures to students and families.

At many schools such as Marie Curie Secondary High School and Phan Huy Chú High School in Hà Nội, students and teachers will be provided dry handwashing products and soaps.

The city's Department of Tourism has instructed companies and accommodation facilities to carry out preventive measures. Travel companies should conduct surveillance of health of tourists who have gone to China’s Wuhan Province or transited there during their tours.

According to the Tourism Association of Khánh Hòa Province, most hotels in the province have instructed their guests to wash hands with soap. Many of them have provided free masks to their guests.

On Hòn Tre Island in Nha Trang City, hundreds of sites for washing hands have been set up.

Public areas at tourism sites in the province have strengthened disinfection efforts. The province’s restaurants, shopping malls and enterprises have disinfected chairs, tables and others daily.

On January 30, the Việt Nam Cashew Association (VINACAS) board of standing executive members decided to postpone the 12th VINACAS Golden Cashew Rendezvous planned for March 5-7 until the end of the acute respiratory infections caused by the new strains of the coronavirus. The new date and time of the GCR-2020 will be announced later.

At Tây Ninh Province’s border gates and industrial parks, a board set up for prevention of the disease has carried out strict surveillance via machines to measure body temperatures. — VNS