Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, chaired the committee's 20th meeting via teleconference with all 63 provinces and centrally-run cities of the country.

According to the committee, Vietnam has so far recorded over 11.5 million COVID-19 infections, including more than 43,100 deaths, equivalent to 0.37% of the total caseload.

Currently, the rate of hospitalised COVID-19 patients is lower than that of some Group B infectious diseases, and the rate of severe cases is equal to or lower than that of some Group B infectious diseases such as dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth disease.

Participants at the meeting said that COVID-19 had met the criteria for Group B infectious diseases as prescribed in Point b, Clause 1, Article 3 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

Accordingly, it is necessary for the Government, ministries, agencies and localities to adjust regulations, policies and requirements in line with the new situation as well as review issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control in the past three years.

PM Chinh stressed that the numbers of infections and fatalities have decreased sharply compared to the figures in 2021 and 2022. However, the announcement of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic will be made in accordance with the law, and there will be other adjustments, he said.

According to the PM, in the coming time, the COVID-19 pandemic will not come to an end its consequences will still linger, therefore, pandemic prevention and control work must be continued. It is necessary to improve the capacity of grassroots and preventive healthcare systems, overcome the aftermath of the pandemic and continue to stablise the lives of people, especially those directly affected by COVID-19.

He assigned the Ministry of Health to guide other ministries, sectors and localities to review the prevention and control work, adjust related legal documents in line with the new situation, build plans to sustainably control COVID-19 in the new period as well as other epidemics that are likely to appear, and continue proper COVID-19 vaccinations.

The PM also asked relevant ministries and agencies to continue mobilising and utilising resources for COVID-19 prevention and control, overcoming the consequences of the pandemic and carrying out social security activities./.