Can Vietnam consider COVID-19 as an endemic disease? -Life Health

“Can Vietnam consider COVID-19 an endemic disease? When? What are the conditions to consider it endemic? If WHO has not considered COVID-19 as an endemic disease while Vietnam is eligible, does it have the right to declare it?”, are questions that many people ask.

Assoc. Prof-Dr. Nguyen Huy Nga, former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), said that currently, Vietnam is still in a state of pandemic and epidemic. COVID-19 It is still group A. Therefore, certain epidemic prevention measures must be strictly implemented, and it is not possible to return to normal as before the epidemic.

For example: Border quarantine, wearing of masks is mandatory, hospitals are in a state of readiness to fight the epidemic. Many children have not been vaccinated, so schools at all levels must also implement flexible epidemic prevention measures and at the same time implement COVID-19 vaccination. Measures such as hand washing and sanitizing can never be lifted.

Before the question: Can Vietnam consider COVID-19 as an endemic disease? When? What are the conditions to consider it endemic? If the WHO has not considered COVID-19 as an endemic disease while Vietnam is eligible, does it have the right to declare it?, Assoc. ) there are many different opinions, not reaching consensus. However, a prerequisite is a stable epidemic, without large fluctuations in cases and deaths.

In addition, herd immunity is at a high level to prevent large-scale outbreaks, the infection coefficient has returned to close to 1. In addition, the health system has enough capacity to treat and give first aid to patients. without being overloaded. Another important factor is that people’s psychology has stabilized, there is no fear, and self-protection skills have been improved.

Compared with those conditions, Vietnam’s epidemic is still increasing, the rate of herd immunity has not reached a high level, the infection coefficient is still high. The health system is not overloaded, the number of deaths has stabilized, so Vietnam is in the process of transitioning to endemic disease. Vietnam can self-declare without depending on the international. Some countries in the world have considered COVID-19 as an endemic disease, but some countries are still pursuing Zero COVID-19 like China.

Regarding Hanoi’s decision to open the door to eat and drink on their own in the context that it still records about 30,000 infections every day, according to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huy Nga, Hanoi’s decision is in line with the implementation of the Decree. Decision 128 of the Government, to restore the economy and tourism. Currently, Hanoi’s vaccination rate is very high, many people are naturally infected, so the possibility of an outbreak is difficult.

Currently, people also have the skills to monitor, protect and be alert to the epidemic, so the opening is appropriate for the current situation. However, Hanoi needs to guide and communicate to the people to well implement measures to prevent and control the epidemic, and to comply with 5K. Restaurants must clean, ventilate and disinfect regularly. Service workers need to be screened, need to test people with suspected COVID-19 symptoms.