After 3 years of fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, Covid-19 no longer meets the criteria for group A infectious diseases, but has been adjusted to group B.
Reasons for moving to group B
The Ministry of Health proposed applying the provisions of Clause 2, Article 3 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases to adjust Covid-19 from group A to group B. The National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control agreed with this proposal. Because from the beginning of 2023 to now, the whole country has recorded 85,493 Covid-19 cases, a 48-fold decrease compared to 2022, 20 deaths, the mortality rate has dropped sharply to 0.02% due to severe underlying diseases and not having received enough doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Vietnam's Covid-19 vaccination rate for doses 1, 2, 3, 4 for age groups is high. In Binh Thuan alone, the whole province had 369 Covid-19 cases during the same period, including 2 cases from outside the province, with no deaths. From 18 years old and up, the rate of vaccination for dose 3 reached 71.3%; 4th dose is 99.1%…
In addition, the rate of Covid-19 patients currently hospitalized is lower than some group B infectious diseases and the mortality rate is also equal to or lower than some group B infectious diseases recorded in Vietnam in the past 5 years such as dengue fever (0.022%), malaria (0.017%), diphtheria (0.102%)...
To date, the causative agent of Covid-19 has been clearly identified as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Through monitoring the epidemic developments in Vietnam and comparing the regulations of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, Covid-19 no longer meets the criteria for a Group A infectious disease.
According to the Ministry of Health, when transferring Covid-19 to Group B infectious diseases, the Ministry of Health and People's Committees of provinces and cities need to base on the actual epidemic situation to declare the end of the epidemic according to the provisions of the law on prevention and control of infectious diseases. In order to be able to synchronously and uniformly deploy epidemic prevention and control measures after Covid-19 is transferred from Group A to Group B, the Ministry of Health is directing units to review Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control measures to consider and decide on the application of appropriate measures to the epidemic situation in the coming time.
Victory of the people
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Covid-19 epidemic is no longer a public health emergency of international concern, but the pandemic is not over. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has not disappeared, circulating in the community, new variants are constantly emerging. Therefore, countries are recommended to shift from emergency response to sustainable management, integrated with other threats and long-term.
Although the Covid-19 vaccination rate in Vietnam is high, it is impossible to completely rule out the possibility of at least one new infection in the community. Looking back at 3 years of Covid-19 prevention, this is a new pandemic, unprecedented, never happened on a global scale, lasting from 2020 to present, causing great impact on many aspects of social life.
At the meeting on Covid-19 prevention and control on the afternoon of June 3, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: The success in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 pandemic is thanks to the leadership of the Party, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the companionship and supervision of the National Assembly, the drastic, synchronous, effective and situation-appropriate direction of the Government, the participation of the entire political system, the support of the people, the business community, and the support of international friends and partners. This victory is the victory of the people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
At the same time, implementing the three pillars of epidemic prevention and control (isolation, testing, treatment) and the epidemic prevention and control formula "5K + vaccine + medicine + technology + people's awareness and other measures"; implementing the largest free vaccination strategy in history for people and mobilizing the combined strength of resources.
According to the Prime Minister, the announcement of the end of the Covid-19 epidemic will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of law, along with adjusting other related policies. Continue to study the 7 recommendations of WHO, including not being negligent, subjective, or losing vigilance against the Covid-19 epidemic; develop an epidemic prevention plan in the new situation that is suitable for reality. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of grassroots health care and preventive medicine at all levels; continue to stabilize people's lives after the Covid-19 pandemic...
Source
Comment (0)