Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam requested the Ministry of Health to soon issue guidance on COVID-19testing at school and for health monitoring of children with illnesses or underlyinghealth conditions, at an online meeting with representatives of the 63 provinces and cities held onFebruary 17.
Dam highlighted the importance of lettingchildren go back to schools and stressed solutions to do so must be long-term, proactive,vigilant, and without extremes, noting that pandemic prevention and control options for schools ought tobe detailed, updated, and trained for people involved frequently.
He said it is necessary to continue the vaccinationplan for children between five and under 12 years old in line with the guidanceof the health body; to control the rate of infections at school; and to come upwith ways to properly tackle such infections and related people.
Dam also ordered the Ministry of Education and Training to furtherorganise and complete online and television teaching methods as part of theeducational reform programme instead of just implementing it during the pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)According to a report by the Ministry of Education andTraining at the function, from February 7 to date, 93.71 percent of the students nationwide have returned to face-to-face classes. All universities havealready had plans for the resumption of in-person classes.
As planned, from February 21, 59 out of the country's 63 localitieswill allow kindergarten children to be back to school, while primary, secondary andhigh school students nationwide will return to face-to-facelearning.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said the entire nation logged some 329,000COVID-19 cases from February 1 to 15, of whom 8.6 percent and 4.8 percent are aged5-18 and under five, respectively./.
