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HCMC reinstalls Covid-19 checkpoints

HCMC reinstalls Covid-19 checkpoints

A Covid-19 checkpoint on National Highway 13 in HCMC’s Thu Duc City. HCMC will resume Covid-19 checkpoints across the city - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong has ordered the resumption of checkpoints throughout the city to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 and asked the healthcare, police and military forces to take charge of these checkpoints.

At an urgent meeting of the municipal steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control on May 10, Phong made the decision as the pandemic has spread to 26 localities nationwide over the past two weeks.

The city must be on high alert to curb the pandemic. All people entering the city must make health declarations at checkpoints in gateway areas.

According to the municipal chairman, with the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and nearly 60 seaports, the city is at high risk of acquiring imported Covid-19 transmission cases. Therefore, checkpoints should be installed at stations, wharves and supermarkets, besides gateways.

In April last year, the city installed 62 checkpoints to prevent Covid-19, which operated around the clock.

After 19 days, these checkpoints were removed when the city lifted social distancing measures.

Phong also asked the local healthcare sector and authorities to pay more attention to people completing their quarantine period.

To date, the city has reported 267 Covid-19 cases, including 243 people having recovered from the diseases and 24 others still under medical treatment.

Although the city has recently detected only one locally-infected Covid-19 case, the pandemic continues to show complicated developments in the country and the world as a whole. Therefore, Phong ordered that the entire city be on high alert.

He also asked leaders of districts, Thu Duc City, departments and agencies to resume meetings on pandemic prevention and control every Monday and Friday.

Director of the HCMC Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh reported at the meeting that the city is at high risk of pandemic transmission from centralized quarantine centers as the city currently has 41 such centers in hotels, 21 centers in hospitals and many centers run by the military.

In addition, large hospitals in the city may be another source of infection as they gather many patients and their family members. Illegal entry rings and residents returning to the city after the holiday may also cause a high risk of pandemic transmission.

The municipal healthcare sector has come up with safety criteria for all sectors and set up 200 teams in the community to combat the pandemic.

The municipal Department of Health has mobilized students from medical schools to get ready in case the city needs to take samples and trace people in close contact with Covid-19 patients on a large scale.

The city is also prepared to test 15,000 samples per day. The figure will increase to 40,000 in the coming periods.

Moreover, the city has plans to boost capacity enough to provide medical treatment for 50, 100 and even over 200 patients at the same time. The department is coming up with a plan to treat more than 5,000 Covid-19 patients, Binh said.

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