WHO Representative in Vietnam, Dr. Kidong Park, said that the state of emergency can be ended due to the global pandemic this year, but at this time, Covid should not be considered as an endemic disease and leave 5K behind.
“Countries must be prepared to transition their response to sustainable Covid-19 control and be prepared for the long term, instead of completely abandoning containment measures by declaring Covid-19 an endemic disease. Countries need to protect the weakest and prevent health systems from overwhelmed,” said Park VnExpress March 23.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has noted a rapid increase in the number of infections in Vietnam since Tet, but most have mild symptoms and are recovering at home. The rate of severe infections and deaths continues to fall. According to this organization’s statistics, Vietnam has about 1.9 million people in isolation, monitoring or treatment, of which more than 4,000 people (about 2.2%) require oxygen-assisted treatment. .
Park said that the serious illness and death rate in Vietnam continued to decline, but the number of cases was too high, which could put a strain on the health system even though the number of severe cases was low. Therefore, Vietnam epidemic suppression measures must not be eliminated effective than the previous stages such as: 5K, antigen test, PCR and F0 isolation. People need to continue to take simple steps to reduce the risk to themselves, friends and family such as: vaccinations, avoiding large gatherings, wearing masks, isolating if positive…
“Although mass testing is no longer required at this time, it is still advisable to continue testing based on individual infection risk for isolation, diagnosis and treatment,” Park said.
5K (mask – disinfection – distance – medical declaration – do not gather) is a basic epidemic prevention measure implemented by Vietnam since Covid-19 emerged three years ago. The Ministry of Health considers this a simple but very effective step, making a major contribution to preventing infection in the community so far.
In the new context, Vietnam’s epidemic prevention strategy is shifting to risk management methods, from goals to be control the number of cases luxurious control the number of high-risk, very high-risk hospitalizations and deaths. The government has also asked the Ministry of Health to study the epidemic situation and consider transferring Covid-19 from the disease group A infection (very dangerous) for common disease (group B infection). And the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi commented on the actions 5K is no longer relevant (such as keeping a distance, not gathering), it is recommended to reduce to 2K for masks and disinfection.
In this case, Mr. Park said: “5K should not be abandoned yet, but now is the time to prepare for the end of the pandemic. Vietnam and the world have enough tools and methods to do this.”
Dr Kidong Park, representative of the World Health Organization in Vietnam. Photo: WHO provides
The WHO representative in Vietnam recommended that countries use comprehensive strategies and tools to map the acute phase of the pandemic. The most effective way is to still ensure community immunity through Covid-19 Vaccination, especially high-risk groups. In addition, health systems need to reduce mortality through rigorous clinical care, including primary care, equitable allocation of diagnostic resources, oxygen, and antiviral drugs at the point of care.
“Governments can adapt public health and social measures as needed, learn important lessons, and identify new solutions now, not waiting until the pandemic is over to do so.” there, said Mr. Parks. WHO recommends that each region consider adjusting social and public health regulations based on the rate of vacancy in intensive care units (ICUs), the risk of overloading the health care system; high-risk group vaccination rates; capacity to manage infections in health facilities.
On March 23, Vietnam recorded more than 127,000 new infections, the average total number of infections in the past 7 days was 146,192 cases/day, down 7% compared to the average for the previous 7 days. The average number of deaths in the last 7 days was 67, down 10% from the average for the previous 7 days. The total number of deaths from Covid-19 in Vietnam accounts for 0.5% of the number of infections. The Ministry of Health considers that although the infection rate is increasing, the death rate per capita continues to decline.
Thu Linh
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
