HO CHI MINH CITY (Vietnam News / Asia News Network): HCM City pledges vigilant pandemic prevention measures as economy reopens after months of strict lockdown measures, said a chief of the city.
Speaking at a meeting with economic and medical experts last Friday (September 17), Nguyễn Văn Nên, secretary of the city party committee, said: “The city is under enormous pressure to reopen the economy. or it will be too late.
The level of suffering to the economy and people has reached its limit due to the prolonged containment measures. As such, the city will develop a roadmap for reopening so that it can adapt and live safely with the virus, he said.
The city will gradually reduce the very high risk areas and try to increase the number of low risk areas, according to Nên.
Vũ Thà nh Tự Anh, director of the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management, said reopening for economic development and social security has become more urgent than ever as businesses and people, especially the poor, are struggling due to blockages.
“The economic cost is enormous if we delay reopening further,†he noted.
He said it was too expensive to conduct large-scale testing for the city’s entire population. In addition, the city’s revenues and those of the central government face challenges as the cost of preventing the pandemic has been extremely high.
Anh called on the health ministry to adjust regulations and safety criteria for the city’s reopening.
Professor Trần Hoà ng Ngân, director of the HCM Municipal Research and Development Institute, stressed that “when the city’s income is in difficulty, it will also affect national financial resources”.
Economics expert Trần Du Lịch called on the city to change its strategy to fight the pandemic and not focus on finding all close contacts of positive cases.
Lê TrÆ°á»ng Giang, chairman of the HCM City Public Health Association, said that although the city has been implementing strict measures for months, the number of cases has not declined as expected.
Vaccines and drugs are the “two weapons in the fight against the pandemic,†he said.
“The tests will help catch cases early to avoid the risk of becoming more seriously ill. It will also help bring those tested back to normal life and restore their social activities. “
“Although the city has not been able to contain the epidemic according to the criteria of the Ministry of Health, it must consider opening up gradually,” he said.
Professor Trần Diệp Tuấn, rector of the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, said the number of new cases had not reached a “safe level” according to the ministry’s criteria and the city should discuss the set of criteria and take accommodation.
Lê Hoà ng Ninh, former director of the HCM City Public Health Institute, said the city’s strategy is to vaccinate everyone because the city cannot remain closed forever.
Ninh said it was important to focus on testing high-risk groups, instead of mass testing, which he said was a waste of resources. “The city must find ways to live with the virus because it will not be eradicated. “
Dr Nguyá»…n Thế DÅ©ng, former director of the city’s health department, said the city should focus on setting basic goals such as reducing the number of deaths and seriously ill cases.
The city originally planned to ease lockdown measures after September 15, but the deadline was extended until the end of the month.
It is speeding up vaccinations for its adult population aged 18 and over and consulting with medical and economic experts about a green card system for vaccines that would allow people to travel and work with fewer restrictions.
According to the HCM City Center for Disease Control, as of September 15, the city had administered 8,452,609 vaccines, including 6.6 million first vaccines and 1.7 million second vaccines. Almost one million people aged 65 and over and those with underlying conditions have been vaccinated.
The first hit coverage rate in the city reached 92.5%. The city has set a goal of vaccinating all adults aged 18 and over by the end of the year.
