Living safely with COVID-19 in the 'new normal'

Living safely with COVID- 一 九

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has emphasised the change in approach more than once.

He said in a meeting with medical experts and scientists earlier this month: "We cannot resort to quarantine and lockdown measures forever, as it will cause difficulties for the people and the economy.”

While stressing that “we will have to live with the pandemic for a long time," he said preventing deaths was a top priority and vaccinations were a key strategic measure for Việt Nam.

Chính also said while it is now almost impossible to control the pandemic completely, people in Việt Nam would have to adapt and find suitable ways to live with the situation.

We're seeing a few positive signs already. 

Hà Nội has allowed the resumption of some activities in districts and towns which have undergone  一0 days without any COVID infections in the co妹妹unity, starting from noon on September  一 六.

HCM City extended social distancing until the end of September but allowed certain businesses to operate from  六am to  九pm, and said that physical activities could be resumed in low-risk areas.

Đà Nẵng has allowed civil construction works in the central city to resume on September  一 六, until further notice, barring those located in red zones which are at extremely high risk of COVID transmission.

But experts say all the reopening should be considered carefully and disease control must remain a top priority.

Trần Hùng Sơn and Hồ Hữu Tín from the HCMC University of Economics and Law said that countries consider a number of factors when deciding to reopen the economy.

These included vaccine coverage; if the number of new cases is within the care capacity of the health system, especially in intensive care units (ICUs); quantity and quality of medical staff.

The ability to detect, manage and prevent new infections; systematic identification and effective isolation of infected cases; having technology infrastructure that updates in real time the necessary data for decision making, are also important matters. 

Trần Đắc Phu, senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center under the Health Ministry, said each locality should depend not only on the situation of COVID- 一 九 but also on the life, economic development and social security of people to have appropriate measures, from social distancing to lockdown and treatment to minimise deaths. 

National Assembly deputy Hoàng Văn Cường, who is also vice dean of the Hà Nội National University of Economics, said even when resuming all activities, the new normalcy should be different from the old one. 

Everything that could be done online should be done online and the fewer gatherings the better, he said. 

While vaccination is the first and foremost way to reopening, Cường said another significant factor was the ability to put co妹妹unity outbreaks under control and ensure that the number of new cases would be within the treatment capacity of the healthcare sector.

“We have to be active in measures and scenarios in pandemic control, we need to be able to prevent an outbreak from spreading. We accept that the virus is there among the co妹妹unity but we must be able to handle infections as soon as they occur,” Cường said.

He reco妹妹ended the reopening of activities with little contact and in open spaces, such as outdoor agricultural production and outdoor construction work, should be prioritised. 

For indoor production, Cường said the priority should be given to factories with separate units to ensure no cross-infection occurs.

Việt Nam has changed its COVID- 一 九 strategy as the real circumstances require. Besides treating patients, the country has sped up vaccination and channelled more budget revenue into supporting production, providing necessities to the people and helping poor households. The responsibility of each of us is now complying with all the anti-pandemic measures, stay in line with the  五K message, get the vaccine when we can, only then can we live safely with COVID- 一 九 in the long run. — VNS