Deputy minister Đỗ Xuân Tuyên (second, right) checked COVID-19 prevention and control work at Mộc Bài International Border Gate in southern Tây Ninh Province on Saturday. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Officials have called for border controls to be improved to stop illegal immigration from spreading COVID-19.

It is crucial to strengthen the management of immigration activities in border localities, while increasing support measures and co-operation with localities, heard a meeting of the standing board of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Hà Nội on late Friday.

According to a representative from the Ministry of Health, after six consecutive days with no new domestically-transmitted COVID-19 infections, Viet Nam saw two new cases from people who entered illegally the country last Thursday.

The ministry asked localities related to the new cases to promptly trace and test people who had close contacts with the patients.

Health minister Nguyễn Thanh Long underlined the need for border localities to work harder to supervise entry and map out scenarios for COVID-19 testing, quarantine and treatment, minimising impacts on the local socio-economic situation.

Along with following the Ministry's Health's anti-pandemic guidance, people were advised to report people returning from pandemic-hit areas or foreign countries who fail to make health declarations.

The board asked ministries, sectors and localities to create conditions for those who wish to enter Việt Nam after receiving COVID-19 vaccine shots, with the strict implementation of preventive measures.

Amid the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, border guards of the northern province of Lào Cai have worked with their Chinese counterparts to strengthen patrols along the border.

Vietnamese and Chinese patrol forces have set up nine joint teams to prevent cross-border crimes and end illegal immigration.

On Saturday, a team from the Ministry of Health, led by deputy minister Đỗ Xuân Tuyên, inspected COVID-19 prevention and control work at Mộc Bài International Border Gate in southern Tây Ninh Province.

The northern province of Hải Dương – the largest hotspot of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, on Friday removed the lockdown for its last location - the Văn Xá resident area in Nguyễn Ái Quốc Ward of Hải Dương City. — VNS