At a meeting with An Giang provincial leaders, Deputy PM Dam, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, hailed the province’s serious implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

The province has applied social distancing policy following Prime Minister’s Directive 16 for nearly one month, he said, asking the locality to take this time to screen F0 cases in the community and timely sealing off affected areas.

According to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh, An Giang has logged 531 COVID-19 infections, including 47 imported cases since April 15. To date, 184 of them have been given the all-clear from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

As the province shares a long border line with Cambodia and welcomes large number of people returning from pandemic-hit areas, the local authorities proposed the Government to approve the construction of a field hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The province has also called for support in the form of medical equipment, such as ventilators, oxygen generators, PCR test kits for COVID-19, and personal protective equipment.

* During a working session with leaders of Hau Giang the same day, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam appreciated the drastic direction of local authorities as well as the consensus of local people in the fight against COVID-19.

However, he noted that the province still faces high risk of COVID-19, thus he asked Hau Giang to strictly follow the Prime Minister’s Directive 16 on COVID‑19 prevention measures.

The province was also asked to expand its COVID-free “green zone” areas while taking more drastic measures to fulfil the dual goals of preventing the pandemic while maintaining economic development.

Earlier, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam visited the Hau Giang Provincial Lung Hospital, which is providing treatment for patients with severe COVID-19.