Official Dispatch 3909/UBND-VX Ho Chi Minh City 2021 implement measures to prevent COVID-19

To:

- Departments, agencies, and sectors of the City;

- People’s Committees of Thu Duc City and other districts.

Since October 01, 2021, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented the Government's Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP dated October 11, 2021, promulgating the Interim Regulation on “safe and flexible adaptation and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic”, the Ministry of Health’s Decision No. 4800/QD-BYT dated October 12, 2021, issuing the Interim Guidance for implementation of the Government’s Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP dated October 11, 2021, and the Decision No. 3900/QD-UBND dated November 16, 2021, of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, on the interim regulation on measures for "safe and flexible adaptation and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic" in Ho Chi Minh City; accordingly, production and social activities are gradually restored. However, over the past few days, the number of new confirmed cases recorded in Thu Duc City and other districts is increasing, especially in Thu Duc City, District 12, Go Vap District, Binh Tan District, Binh Chanh District, and Hoc Mon District.

Pursuant to the Ministry of Health's instructions provided in the Official Dispatch No. 9830/BYT-DP dated November 19, 2021, and in order to continue to implement COVID-19 prevention and control measures for the purpose of safe, flexible, and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic as well as economic recovery for the City, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee hereby requests Departments, agencies, and sectors of the City, People’s Committees of Thu Duc City and other districts as follows:

 1. To assign People’s Committees of Thu Duc City and other districts:

- To continue thoroughly grasping as well as strictly, comprehensively, drastically, and effectively implement the directions of the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, and Ho Chi Minh City Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control; regulations and instructions of the Ministry of Health and Department of Health on COVID-19 prevention and control. To direct People's Committees of wards, communes, and townships to strictly comply with the Government's Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP, the Ministry of Health's Decision No. 4800/QD-BYT, and the Decision No. 3900/QD-UBND of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, on the interim regulation on measures for “safe and flexible adaptation and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic” in Ho Chi Minh City, ensuring consistency, promoting the initiative and creativity of local authorities, and avoiding localizing, self-ruling and promulgating unnecessary regulations; at the same time, to consider quick tracing and testing is the key measure to effectively and early control the pandemic as well as safely and flexibly adapt to the developments of the pandemic, thus gradually turning level-2, 3, and 4 areas to level-1 ones.

- To proactively work out specific, detailed, and feasible scenarios in response to pandemic situations in the respective localities, and ensure safe, flexible adaptation to, and effective control over the COVID-19 pandemic in strict accordance with the policies that they must be applicable to all people and take the people as the center and the agencies, units, and localities as the foundation in preventing and controlling the pandemic; review, urge and strengthen the vaccination, especially the second injection, actively organize the mobile vaccination in order to reach the high-risk persons (the elderly and persons with underlying medical conditions) and persons difficult to move; guarantee treatment medicines and equipment; impose zoning and isolation on the narrowest area as possible; continue to propagandize the 5K messages and enhance the people's awareness of pandemic prevention and control. To lift the lockdown, resume production and business activities, reopen the economy with a roadmap in safe and eligible places.

- To strengthen the strict inspection of citizens’ movements as well as firmly grasp the information of citizens leaving and entering the respective localities, at-risk persons who are staying or working in the respective localities and enterprises (such as long-distance, inter-provincial drivers and assistant drivers; people returning to their residences from other provinces, residents of other provinces working in the respective localities, etc.) to take appropriate management measures and regularly make health declarations; strengthen the dissemination of information on the mass media so that people in COVID-19-hit and at-risk areas proactively make health declarations to local health authorities for guidance on monitoring their health and take preventive measures as prescribed.

- Based on regulations and directions of central agencies and specialized sectors, direct the Steering Committees for COVID-19 Prevention and Control at district and commune levels to review and consolidate personnel and issue clear task assignments; inspect and supervise, report the results of assignment of members of Steering Committees for COVID-19 Prevention and Control at district and commune levels and results of inspecting “fortresses” at wards, communes, and townships before November 24, 2021, and conduct briefing on a weekly basis to Ho Chi Minh City Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

2. To assign the Department of Health:

- To guide and enhance the sentinel surveillance of influenza-like illness (ILI), severe viral pneumonia (SVP), and COVID-19, event-based surveillance (EBS) and surveillance for early detection of suspected COVID-19 cases in the community, take samples for testing of suspected cases who suffer cough, fever in order to early detect and quarantine COVID-19 cases, promptly zone and thoroughly handle the outbreak so that it cannot spread in the community; improve the capacity of the health system, especially the grassroots health care system, to respond regularly and promptly; get ready to set up mobile health stations in wards, communes and townships, in pandemic outbreaks and complicated pandemic-hit areas areas so that people can access medical services early, remotely, from grassroots level; strengthen and deploy more staff to health stations in communes, wards and townships when the number of COVID-19 cases increases; at the same time, well implement medical activities to avoid cross-infection in isolation and blockade areas.

- To direct medical examination and treatment establishments to strictly separate people who come for medical examination and treatment into different groups, ask them to make health declarations, check their body temperature, and request them to comply with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control; medical staff as well as high-risk departments and sections must be vigilant and strictly follow the patient screening and classification procedures, do not transfer mild patients or asymptomatic patients to higher levels so as to prevent overcrowding and the risk of infection at health establishments; ensure adequate oxygen, ventilators, emergency beds and other necessary facilities as soon as possible; effectively coordinate in implementing the three-storey COVID-19 treatment model with the priority of treatment given to the 1^st  and 2^nd  stories, limit the number of seriously ill patients, and ensure that the patients are hospitalized, given first aid, and treated in a timely manner.

- To complete plans to be ready to set up a treatment system including Intensive Care Centers and Field Hospitals.

- To take responsibility for directing the local health centers to control injection sites in the area, ensuring that people are invited to get the second injection at the prescribed time; prioritize early vaccination for high-risk groups who have not been vaccinated and are scheduled to take the second dose.

- To coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications to check the database on vaccination for people in the City in order to minimize the number of unvaccinated people and people coming to the 2^nd booster vaccination schedule, ensuring the data synchronization, compatibility, and communication with the National COVID-19 Immunization Portal; ensure adequate vaccination certificates for people who have vaccinated through information technology applications or certificates.

- To strictly follow the mechanism of daily information and report on the infectious diseases, the results of monitoring, investigation, and prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic to the Ministry of Health (via the General Department of Preventive Medicine at email: [email protected]) as prescribed.

3. To assign Departments, agencies, and sectors of the City to direct agencies, units, enterprises, schools, etc. to take measures to ensure safety against the COVID-19, regularly evaluate and update their situations on the COVID-19 Safety system.  To ensure safety against the COVID-19 pandemic in export processing zones, industrial parks enterprises with a large number of workers, and schools; maintain production and business activities in places where conditions are met on the principle of “conducting production activities only when safety is ensured, and safety must be ensured while conducting production activities". To intensify the inspection of the pandemic prevention and control of agencies, units, organizations, and enterprises, especially at hospitals, production establishments, markets, supermarkets, railway stations, airports, bus stations, etc. To request them to regularly update their situations on the Map of Safe Adaption to the COVID-19; promote the mobilization of people to continue implementing 5K rules and uphold their vigilance despite being fully vaccinated; strictly handle violations of regulations on the pandemic prevention and control.