COVID-19 outbreaks at industrial parks must be kept in check, says Deputy PM
VOV.VN - Current COVID-19 outbreaks at industrial parks must be brought under control in order to halt the spread of the virus to neighbouring communities and at the same time to maintain production.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who is also head of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, made the request during an online meeting with leaders of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces on May 16.
Both Bac Ninh and Bac Giang have detected the largest numbers of infections in Vietnam, mostly at industrial parks, since the virus recurred more than two weeks ago. Notably, Bac Giang alone has recorded more than 200 cases over the past two days, mainly at Hosiden Vietnam Co. Ltd. and Quang Chau industrial park.
“Greater efforts are needed to keep in check the current outbreaks at industrial parks in order to prevent the virus spreading to other areas,” he ordered.
To do this, he asked both localities to conduct on-site screening in risk and high-risk areas.
For the time being, the Depputy PM asked the two provinces to activate their entire epidemic prevention and control system, with a primary focus on contact tracing and massive testing, in an attempt to early detect and quarantine positive cases.
He underlined the importance of health declaration both in writing and via electronic apps, and requested the Ministry of Health to review the regulations on health declaration, to ensure it is simple and convenient for all people to make declaration.
He also requested the Ministry of Information and Communications to direct its service providers to set up hotlines to receive and deal with people’s requests regarding health declaration.
The Deputy PM especially reminded Bac Giang, Bac Ninh and other localities to tighten management at quarantine facilities to avoid cross transmission. He also asked them to pool all resources for treatment and affirmed the government will consider additional support if necessary.
At the meeting, Dam also requested the localities to maintain production at industrial parks to avoid disrupting supply chains.
“Nobody exactly knows how big the consequences would be if these industrial parks stop production,” Dam told the meeting.
In that case, he said employees would fan out to seek new jobs and they would transmit the virus to many others.
“We would rather maintain production, strictly implement COVID-19 guidelines and conduct periodic testing for employees rather than stop production,” he suggested.
