Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed a decision to declare a nationwide pandemic following a second wave of Covid-19 cases.
Move comes after second wave of mostly imported cases
pRIMe Minister nguyen Xuan phuc signed a decision to officially declare a nationwide pandemic.
earlier this week, he agreed with the proposal made by the Ministry of Health to declare the Covid-19 outbreak a national epidemic, after the second wave of mostly imported cases from overseas brought the country’s number of patients to over 200.
The announcement was seen as a pure legal formality as Vietnam has already implemented robust responses to curb the spread of the disease since it emerged in the country.
according to the decision, solutions and measures to cope with the pandemic following the Law on Infectious diseases include setting up a steering committee for the disease, health quarantine, monitoring affected areas, mobilising resources in society to fight the pandemic, international co-operation, and setting up field hospitals whenever required.
Covid-19 was deemed to be among the group a infectious diseases according to Vietnamese diseases classification, pointing to a number of significantly dangerous diseases that can spread rapidly and have high mortality rates including avian influenza virus a (H5n1), polio and ebola.
The decision came into effect yesterday and replaces decision 173 released on Feb 1, declaring the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus an epidemic in Vietnam after the first cases popped up in Khanh Hoa, Vinh phuc and Thanh Hoa provinces.
as of yesterday morning, Vietnam had recorded 212 Covid-19 cases.
on Tuesday, the government ordered a 15-day nationwide social distancing against Covid-19 starting from yesterday, requiring people to stay at home, keep a distance of at least two metres from each other and avoid gatherings of more than two people. — Viet nam news/ann/Xinhua