Vaccination is still the best way to control COVID-19 spreading out. (Photo: VNA)The plan is also to strengthen integrated surveillance of COVID-19and other respiratory infections.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced that COVID-19is no longer a public health emergency of global concern. However, the WHODirector-General stressed that the declaration does not mean COVID-19 is nolonger a threat or that COVID-19 is less dangerous, said Prof. Dr. PhanTrong Lan, Director of the Ministry of Health's Department of PreventiveMedicine.
The WHO assessed the risk of COVID-19 as still highglobally. Although the number of cases and deaths has decreased globally,there is still an increase in each region.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus itself is still changeable. At the beginningof April, WHO announced there were about 400-500 sub-variants of Omicron, butby early May, this number was 900, Lan said.
The organisation always reminds countries to be wary of emergingvariations.
According to the director, currently, the pandemic is increasingin Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Every day, Vietnam records about 2,000COVID-19 cases, including deaths, one of ten post-COVID-19 related.
COVID-19 still burdens the health system, he noted.
Vietnam has appropriately responded to the epidemiologicalsituation in each period. Since October 2021, Vietnam has switched to safe,flexible adaptation and effective control.
The Ministry of Health is to develop a sustainable response planto the COVID-19 pandemic in the new situation.
In addition, the ministry diversifies disease surveillanceactivities to properly assess the epidemic situation to implement appropriateresponse measures, including key, regular, integrated, event-based and randommonitoring.
Random surveillance at the border gate is not mandatory, but itstill brings benefits to the community, so people need to coordinate, Lan said.
Regarding the question of when Vietnam will announce the end ofCOVID-19, Lan said that currently, the country no longer has travelrestrictions. In contrast, the nature of SARS-CoV-2 can still travel on healthypeople and cross administrative barriers.
Immunity to COVID-19 will decrease over time, and new waves maystill emerge from one area to another.
Therefore, the COVID-19 epidemic is difficult to predict andunpredictable and has increased in each region.
Regarding the announcement, the Law on Prevention and Control ofInfectious Diseases stipulates that epidemic announcement includes fivecontents; time, place, scope and scale; cause and transmission route anddangerous nature of the pandemic; prevention measures; and medical examinationand treatment facilities.
With these five contents, it is still necessary to continue topublish data on the epidemic for relevant agencies and the people to understandhelping to control the pandemic quickly, Lan said.
The Ministry of Health continues to recommend that people mustmaintain the 2Ks measures (wearing masks and disinfection), vaccines,medicines, and people's awareness in the long-term prevention and control ofCOVID-19, he added./.
VNA
