Customers wait at shops on Yen Thai Street in Hanoi
They have divided the provinces and cities into the three groups with high risk, at risk and low risk depending on the recent confirmed cases and their travel history. Social distancing will be extended at areas with high-risk factors while the rules will be relaxed in other areas.
The experts also discussed uniform preventive measures that will be applied nationwide such as wearing face masks at public places, banning large gathering and keeping entertainment services temporarily closed. Participants at political events must be medically supervised. Leaders of local authorities can issue specific rules depend on the situation in their areas.
The proposals will be viewed by the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control before being submitted to the prime minister on April 15.
The high-risk status of each province and city is updated and can change based on the local authorities' capability to uphold the rules, contact tracing and healthcare system to treat those with underlying conditions. According to the experts, it's important to strictly punish the violators. If the rules are followed, the risks will be minimised greatly.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui The Duy said each province and city should assign employees for contact tracing task for a quick response. They will form a national network and they can classify risk level to district and ward size and have more flexible measures.
On April 13, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam emphasised that the epidemic would last long so everyone must not lower their guard and have flexible measures in limited areas to ensure economic activity.
On the same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control to have specific social distancing measures and report back by the end of April 15.
