Health Ministry underscores stronger countermeasures amid Omicron threat

At present, the nation has detected Omicron cases in northern, central, and southern regions, with all cases being imported and swiftly quarantined in a timely manner.

In a dispatch sent to various heads of COVID-19 prevention and control boards, and chairs of municipal and provincial People’s Committees, the Ministry ordered stronger preventive measures to be put in place.

The Ministry has therefore requested that localities take steps to improve medical capacity, especially at a grassroots level, and ensure both medical supplies and personnel to serve efforts to combat the pandemic.

People entering the country must undergo close monitoring, the Ministry said, stressing that great efforts are necessary as part of contact tracing, medical quarantine and testing, even when just a single Omicron case is reported.

The Ministry urged localities to speed up the vaccination process for people above 12 years old, review the list of high-risk groups and those with underlying diseases, while continuing with the use of health record platforms.

It can be considered imperative to intensify pandemic prevention and control measures at industrial parks, schools, and workplaces, particularly in hospitals, production facilities, supermarkets, airports, and bus and railway stations.

Localities need to ramp up communication as a way of raising public awareness of the variant and encourage citizens to seriously observe the 5K message - khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration), and other pandemic prevention and control regulations, the Ministry said.