Veterans in Lộc Hà District bring relief food to people in COVID-19-hit areas. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Ngà

HÀ TĨNH — War veterans in Hà Tĩnh, despite their advanced years, are volunteering en masse to assist in COVID-19 management and prevention.

They have been raising funds for the National COVID-19 Vaccine Fund and have reportedly even donated their modest allowances to help needy people whose livelihoods have been badly affected by COVID-19.

Veteran Phan Hữu Thi, 71, from Lộc Hà District said that early last month, the district was under lockdown after three people in a family reportedly had contracted COVID-19.

During the lockdown, the veteran, who is working as head of Xuân Thượng Hamlet, delivered food and other necessities to families living in locked-down areas.

Xuân Phượng commune is located along the coast with a fishing market that receives a number of fishing boats from other localities. This makes it very important to control the pandemic to avoid disruptions to the local fishing industry.

“As almost all 452 families in the hamlet do work or provide fishing-related services, the community-based COVID-19 prevention team must be vigilant and ready at all times so that disease prevention and control work is completed in a timely fashion,” he said.

Lộc Hà District veteran, Dương Đình Cúc, 72, led the local disease prevention and control response when the head of the local residents’ group was dealing with health issues and the secretariat of the residential group Party’s Committee was under quarantine.

Taking over the urgent task, the veteran quickly assigned specific jobs for every member of the community-based COVID-19 prevention team.

They helped collect information about people who had been in contact with confirmed cases and suspected cases. The information gathered was used to assist local health authorities in ensuring rapid testing for nearly 10,000 people.

A checkpoint was set up to monitor the arrivals and departures from the residential group, Cúc said.

Cúc also called on people to donate money and food to help disadvantaged families during the tough days of lockdown.

Local people saw Cúc working relentlessly, in both the heat and rain.

“I’m sometimes under the weather due to the injuries I got in wartime,” Cúc said.

“Like soldiers in battlefields, we- veterans are determined to overcome any obstacle to complete any assigned tasks,” Cúc said, proudly adding that Uncle Hồ’s soldiers must be good examples for others to follow.

Veteran Nguyễn Chưởng, 97, from Kỳ Anh District has also contributed to the fight against COVID-19.

He sent his savings of VNĐ 10 million to the local fund for disease prevention and control.

Last year, 77-year-old veteran Phạm Đình Chín from Đức Thọ District, made the news when traveled dozens of kilometres by bike to donate his monthly allowance to the COVID-19 fund.

Trương Văn Nho, an official from Hà Tĩnh Province Veterans' Association said that veterans in districts of Lộc Hà, Thạch Hà and Hương Sơn were active and responsible members of community-based COVID-19 prevention teams.

The province, with a population of about 1.3 million, has nearly 80,000 veterans. Many veterans have been honoured for their contributions to local socio-economic development and community. — VNS