Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on people in cities and provinces nationwide to strictly follow a “5K message” (in Vietnamese) - Khau trang (facemask), Khu khuan (disinfection), Khoang cach (distance), Khong tu tap (no gathering), Khai bao y te (health declaration) - to help citizens get used to living safely with the COVID-19 pandemic in the “new normal”.
Recently, in a Government meeting on anti-COVID-19 vaccine, the PM has once again stressed that the country is in the period of preventing and combating the pandemic in an active and responsible manner, highlighting the need to implement the 5K message.
Experts attributed Vietnam’s success in controlling the pandemic to the country’s efforts to roll out a series of strong and effective measures against the pandemic.
However, they held that Vietnam will have to continue maintaining the measures for a long time which is enough to form a regular habit to live safely amidst the pandemic.
“The 5K message is line a ‘steel shield’ protecting us from COVID-19,” said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son.
Meanwhile, Associate Prof Dr Tran Dac Phu underlined that the implementation of the “5K message” is significant as “this is the best way to prevent the pandemic to affect ourselves and the community”.
Most recently, on December 22, Patient 1,435 returning home from Britain and quarantined in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh upon arrival was confirmed to be infected with the new virus strain.
Following the detection of the case, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long has proposed to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc that inbound flights should be suspended or limited from countries and territories where new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are found.
The minister noted that 34 countries had announced the detection of new COVID-19 variants as of January 3.
On December 18, 2020, the World Health Organisation reported that a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus was found in the UK, which is said to be 70 percent more transmissible than the old one. It is spreading to other countries rapidly.
So far, more than 40 countries territories have restricted travel from/to the UK and other countries that have reported cases with the virus variant.
Germany and the Netherlands have been the first to close the border with the UK, while France has requested travellers to take quarantine and show proof that they have been tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.
Meanwhile, Spain and Turkey have banned immigrants from the UK until the end of January. The US and the rest of Europe have also reduced the number of flights to the UK.
Japan has announced the ban of all entries until the end of this month, while Indonesia has refused to receive travellers from the UK./
VNA/VNP
