PM orders residents in Hai Duong, Quang Ninh not to leave localities

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the urgent meeting (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered all people living and working in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh not to travel to other localities, to contain the spread of the coronavirus following the confirmation of over 80 cases of community transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the two provinces over the past 24 hours.

The PM convened an urgent meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control work on January 28 morning at the National Convention Hall where the 13th National Party Congress is taking place.

Phuc spoke highly of the drastic and prompt actions taken by the Health Ministry, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, and Hai Duong and Quang Ninh to trace people having possible contact with patients and to zone off newly-detected outbreaks.

He asked ministries, sectors, and localities to carry out stricter measures, continue screening, and identify the reason and the root for the outbreaks.

Publicizing information is essential but should not make people overly concerned, PM Phuc stressed, highlighting the need to promote prevention and control measures.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the steering committee, asked for the activation of the pandemic prevention and control mechanism and system in a hypothetical situation of there being tens of thousands of infections.

He requested that all localities review their prevention measures, especially on the threshold of the Lunar New Year holiday, with a focus on airports, public transport, medical facilities, schools, offices, and markets.

Vietnam has reported 84 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, including 73 in Hai Duong and 11 in Quang Ninh. Of the total, two were confirmed late on January 27 and the remainder on the morning of January 28.

Of the two cases on January 27, a female patient in Hai Duong is related to a woman patient who tested positive for a new variant of the coronavirus upon arrival in Osaka, Japan.

The other is a 31-year-old man from Hong Ha ward in Quang Ninh’s Ha Long city, who works at the province’s Van Don International Airport.