HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City willwork hard to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, maintain socio-economic developmentand ensure a happy Tet (Lunar New Year) festival for its residents, heard ameeting on February 2.
Speaking at the meeting of the municipal steeringcommittee for COVID-19 prevention and control, Nguyen Tan Binh, Director of thecity Department of Health, said as of February 2, the southern metropolis had registered168 COVID-19 cases, including 33 local infections.
As of 10:00 on the day, the city conducted tests for714 people who came from pandemic-hit areas, and those having close contactwith newly-detected community transmission cases - Patients No. 1660, 1801, 1843, he said, most of the results turned outnegative once.
The local health sector also collected samples of nearly11,250 others for testing, with all of the results negative.
According to Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of theTourism Department, another three hotels in the city have been converted into quarantinefacilities, raising the total number of designated quarantine hotels to 32 with2,500 rooms. As many as 29 other hotels are ready to serve the quarantine work.
Tran Luu Quang, Deputy Secretary of the municipalParty Committee, urged competent forces to tighten supervision over transportationactivities to curb the COVID-19 spread.
Secretary of the Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen saidthe pandemic is likely to develop more complicatedly and unexpectedly, askingdepartments and districts to seriously follow the Government’s instructions inthe fight.
He ordered stepping up the communicationswork to raise public awareness of the epidemic, and mobilise joint efforts inthe combat./.