Quang Ninh (VNA) – Quang Ninh province,a major tourism and economic hub in northern Vietnam, has allowed certainservices and local tourism to resume operation since 12:00 on June 8 after no newcases of COVID-19 community transmission were recorded here for one month to June7.

Accordingly, local tourist attractions, relicsites, places of worship, along with cultural and sports services, gym and yogacentres, billiard clubs as well as coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, teastalls, lottery stores have opened their doors. Golf courses are also permittedto welcome local players.

Meanwhile, dance halls, karaoke and massageparlours, bars, pubs, clubs, and game stores remain closed.

The provincial People’s Committee demanded theabovementioned sites comply with the regulated COVID-19 prevention and controlmeasures.

It told the chairpersons of district-levellocalities to consult with local Party committees and steering boards forpandemic prevention and control about the resumption of those services andactivities in their areas.

They have the responsibility to manage,instruct, examine, and monitor the sites and must suspend any activity orservice failing to adhere to anti-COVID-19 requirements.

Meanwhile, the Quang Ninh Department of Tourismis responsible for coordinating with the Department of Health to discuss withother provinces and cities, basing on evaluations by the National SteeringCommittee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, to work out plans for welcomingtourists from “safe” areas nationwide so as to swiftly and strongly revivetourism in the time ahead.

The Tourism Department was also requested towork with the administrations of localities in the province, the Quang NinhTourism Association, management boards of tourism areas, travel companies,hotels, restaurants, and relevant enterprises to develop travel stimulusprogrammes and special tourism products.

Notably, the provincial People’s Committee isencouraging tours with packaged services, including coronavirus pooled testing.

The Tourism Department needs to publicise thetours and tourism programmes before June 11, according to the committee.

To augment efforts against COVID-19, authoritieshave ordered local production and business establishments and industrial parksto conduct random antigen or pooled tests every week for 20 percent of theiremployees, labourers living in boarding houses, and all the workers supplyingservices for businesses in industrial parks.

Quang Ninh has been working to tighten measuresto prevent the disease transmission from other localities in an appropriatemanner while easing restrictions within the province in a controllable manner.It has stayed vigilant and kept paying attention to grassroots anti-pandemicefforts by enhancing villages, wards, and townships’ capacity.

It is also pushing ahead with monitoring peoplerelated to COVID-19 clusters in other localities and stepping up control overpeople and vehicles entering the province.

As many as 49 COVID-19 rapid response teams havebeen set up across Quang Ninh. The provincial People’s Committee has alsoestablished three teams specialised in inspecting pandemic prevention andcontrol measures at industrial parks, factories, enterprises, and constructionsites.

Secretary of the Quang Ninh Party CommitteeNguyen Xuan Ky, head of the provincial steering committee for COVID-19prevention and control, said the province has set the working theme for 2021 as“keeping the province safe and sustaining the growth trend in the new normal;accelerating development and completing uniform and modern socio-economicinfrastructure; and promoting regional connectivity,” so as to createprerequisites for Quang Ninh to achieve the twin targets of controlling thepandemic and boosting socio-economic development.

Hit hard by a resurgence of COVID-19 in the first quarter, Quang Ninh nonetheless posted gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth of 9.02 percent, or double the national average.

This put the province in second place in terms of GRDP growth in the northern key economic region, following the neighbouring city of Hai Phong.

The province aims to maintain its GRDP growth rate at more than 10 percent this year.

It has set a goal of having modern industry and service sectors and becoming one of the region’s most comprehensive and dynamic development hubs by 2025, which is part of its growth targets for 2020-2025./.