The National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention met yesterday in Hà Nội. - VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI - Increasing testing capacity and managing foreign and Vietnamese arrivals, including those who have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, were highlights during a meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control yesterday in Hà Nội. 

The committee asked localities to develop response plans for cases in which the virus is detected within industrial zones, which allow rapid and mass testing to be conducted. This is to prevent the virus from spreading undetected, similar to the cases of Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang.

The Ministry of Health is to provide training to workers and firms in the worst-case scenario so that mass testing could be done efficiently. The ministry was told to quickly introduce saliva testing for COVID-19 and employ AI to produce faster results.

The committee also demanded governmental agencies set up a protocol to manage foreign and Vietnamese nationals who entered the country. The protocol must provide localities with comprehensive guidance on how to receive them, how long they should stay in quarantine, how long they should be monitored and the establishment of a database for future follow-ups.

Those who already received the COVID-19 vaccine may be subject to testing to ensure the vaccine's efficacy and have their quarantine period reduced to around a week. 

The fourth wave of the virus should be brought to an end within a month, according to the committee. 

Since the resurgence of the virus on April 27, the country has reported 6,165 cases, with 5,875 community infections and 18 fatalities in 39 localities across the country. Of which, HCM City, Bắc Giang, Bắc Ninh, Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng were identified as hotspots. 

According to a report by the Ministry of Health, the situation has been put under control. For the next few days, there might be additional cases but most if not all are those already in quarantine. 

The ministry, however, warned localities about potential threats of illegal entries and movement of contacts of existing virus clusters which have gone undetected. 

The committee advised HCM City, Bắc Giang and Bắc Ninh's virus taskforces to stay on high alert all the time to ensure safety in industrial zones. - VNS