Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vu DucDam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on July 24 urged all competent forces to remain vigilant and standready to cope with new developments of the pandemic.

Speaking at a meeting of the committee, Dam lauded effortsmade over the recent past in fighting the epidemic.

However, nothing is absolute safe, hesaid, warning of the risk of coronavirus transmission as Vietnam has land border routesrunning 4,000km and has implemented flights carrying foreign experts to thecountry and Vietnamese citizens, including COVID-19 cases, from pandemic-hitareas.

Given this, competent agencies need to tighten theirmanagement and make plans to bring home Vietnamese people in line with thedomestic capacity for pandemic prevention and control, Dam requested.

Right after any risk is detected, prompt actions mustbe taken to prevent the spread of the virus in the community, he stressed.

Regarding the suspected case in the central city of DaNang, the Deputy PM appreciated the locality’s quick response to the incident, includingcontact tracing and quarantine measures.

The final test result should be announced by theNational Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, slated for July 25 morning, hesaid.

“However, whether the test result is negative orpositive, we still need to continue implementing measures as we have done inresponse to positive cases,” he ordered.

Contacttracing, quarantine and testing are compulsory in response to suspected or confirmedcases within the community, he emphasised.

The case in Da Nang is a signal helping to raise thepreparedness of localities, as well as the entire medical system, Dam said,expressing his belief that preparedness and observance of regulations onCOVID-19 prevention and control would prevent the disease from spreading in thecommunity.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long, Acting Minister ofHealth, reported that the ministry has rolled out all necessarycountermeasures, and sent a working group to Da Nang right on July 24 to assist thelocality in dealing with the case.

On July 23 night, Da Nang conducted testing on peoplewho had close contact with the man, and their test results turned out negative,he said, adding that all of them are still put under quarantine.

At the meeting, many experts urged people to continuewearing face masks in public places, and suggested tightening management atborder gates and areas, and strictly handle people illegally enteringVietnam./.