Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, chairs the meeting. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Experts have suggested areview is needed of Vietnam’s testing strategy, in particular stepping upantigen testing, to match the developments of the COVID-19 epidemic in thecountry.
The steering committee for COVID-19 prevention andcontrol, at a meeting in Hanoi on September 3, therefore assigned the Ministryof Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health to help businesses andunits in studying and implementing the antigen testing method.
Regarding a scenario of 10,000 COVID-19 cases, thecommittee asked the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the Ministry ofFinance in building a new testing strategy and present it shortly to theNational Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
The finance ministry reported that Vietnam has so far spentnearly 400 million USD fighting the pandemic.
Professor Dang Duc Anh, head of the National Instituteof Hygiene and Epidemiology, said that as antigen testing can produce accurateresults in a short period of time, it should be used in public places likeairports and concentrated quarantine areas, contributing to effectivelyfighting the pandemic.
The institute is working with the US on the transferof the testing technology, which is expected to be rolled out in Vietnam at anearly date, he added.
Other delegates at the meeting proposed Vietnam use alltesting methods, including antigen testing and Realtime-LAMP, and thatbusinesses join hands in the testing work.
According to the health ministry, as of 3 pm onSeptember 3, Vietnam had 1,046 COVID-19 cases, including 748 recoveries and 35deaths.
The ministry pointed to the risk of communitytransmission, particularly in the time ahead, when weather conditions are more favourablefor the development of respiratory diseases.
Preventive measures therefore need to be maintainedand enhanced, it said./.
VNA
