At the meeting

During a meeting in Hanoi on May 4, Dam, who is also head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said this outbreak is different from the previous three ones due to pressure from the southwestern border and quicker spread of new variants from India.

He also reiterated a need to prepare for a plan in response to a scenario of having 30,000 infection cases, adding that all must strive to not make it happen.

Dam ordered that from 0:00 on May 4, all who have finished 14-day quarantine in concentrated facilities and tested negative for the coronavirus twice must temporarily stay there.

It is a must to enhance the monitoring of the pandemic in the community, zone off affected areas and wipe it out as soon as possible, he said.

Warning of illegal entries across the border, he called on border guards, authorities and mass organisations from border provinces to keep a close watch over immigrants.

Speaking at the event, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long urged localities to seriously follow directions of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat, Government, Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control as well as guidelines of the Health Ministry, ministries and agencies concerned because the transmission risk is very high.

He underscored a need to continue following the 5K principle, including compulsory mask wearing in public places.

According to him, the Health Ministry is stepping up negotiations to bring vaccines to Vietnam and facilitate technological transfer to produce vaccines at home.

The ministry reported that as of May 4, the world recorded more than 153 million COVID-19 cases, including over 3.2 million deaths.

As of 6pm on the day, Vietnam logged a total of 2,996 cases, 1,608 of which were locally transmitted. There were 38 new cases from April 27./.VNA