The Standing Board of the Municipal Party Committee has agreed to maintain the ongoing social distancing measures following the Prime Minister’s Directive 16, Nguyen Van Phong, Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, said a press briefing regarding COVID-19 prevention and efforts on August 20.

The extension aims to accelerate mass testing to ‘filter out’ hidden COVID-19 cases in the community, speed up COVID-19 vaccination for local residents, and make preparations for possible pandemic scenarios.

According to Director of the Hanoi Health Department Tran Thi Nhi Ha, since late April, the start of the fourth wave in Vietnam, the capital city recorded 2,695 infections of COVID-19, including 1,262 cases in the community. The city has 10,600 patient beds, 135 quarantine facilities, capable of accommodating nearly 43,000 people. There are more than 5,000 people under quarantine.

The city has administered 1.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. About 48 percent of workers in industrial parks and manufacturing facilities have been inoculated.

The city would continue to prioritise high-risk groups in the next vaccination effort: frontline workers, guards of buildings, shippers, drivers, and those working in supply chains, Phong said.

The city would focus on improving the capacity of the health sector with more equipment (especially oxygen systems), training for medical staff, and more facilities to receive asymptomatic or really mild COVID-19 cases with a capacity of 10,000-30,000, the official said.

Phong revealed that after the pandemic is controlled, the city will spend VND500 billion to support local residents in employment.

Under the Government's Directive 16, all residents are told to continue to stay at home and only go outside for necessary purposes – buying essential items, food, medicine, or emergency needs, for COVID-19 vaccination appointments, or working at essential businesses and agencies allowed to open.