Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong has emphasised the necessity to strengthen supervision and take more samples for COVID-19 testing at border gates besides maintaining the current pandemic prevention and control measures as usual.

Addressing a meeting on disease surveillance and response of the Public Health Emergency Operations Centres (PHEOC) under the Ministry of Health on January 2,  the official said Vietnam needs to make careful preparations to effectively control the pandemic, in the context of some countries changing their COVID-19 control policy.

Localities with border gates need to pay attention to taking samples in the community, and reviewing the capacity of treatment and accommodation facilities in order to serve visitors, Huong stated.


After China decided to open the border and lift COVID-19 quarantine measures from January 8, health experts said the border opening can lead to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, but Vietnam is unlikely to be at risk of an outbreak because of its community immunity.

According to Dr. Phan Trong Lan, Director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, local departments of health must continue strictly implementing medical quarantine activities specified in Decree 89/ND-CP by the Government, which details a number of articles of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases on border health quarantine.

Sharing Lan’s viewpoint, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Nhu Duong, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, suggested that attention should also be paid to communication activities so that passengers can proactively declare their health situation and implement infection prevention measures.

Previously, heads of units under the Ministry of Health, and directors of the departments of health of localities nationwide have been required to shore up vigilance against the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health has asked localities, especially those with border gates, to speed up the vaccination scheme, trying to complete their goals in the first two weeks of January.

The same day, the Ministry of Public Security held anonline conference to popularise Decree 93/2022/ND-CP dated November 7, 022 onensuring security and order at air border gates.

The decree is an important document, creating the legal foundation for publicsecurity forces to roll out measures to ensure security and order at air bordergates, contributing to safeguarding aviation security in any circumstances./.