Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Friday appointed Nguyen Thanh Long, deputy head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Communications and Education, as deputy minister of health as the country strives to tighten curb on the new China coronavirus or nCoV.

The appointment takes immediate effect, the Government Portal said.

Long, 54, was a deputy minister of health from December 2011 to October 2018 before being taking the current post at the Commission for Communications and Education, which oversees ideological, cultural and press issues in Vietnam.

He started his career at the Health Ministry as a preventive medicine specialist in 1995 and led the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention between 2008 and 2011.

Returning to the old post, Long will be a member of the Working Group for nCoV Prevention.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam is now in charge of the Health Ministry and the minister post is still vacant after the parliament released Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien from her post in November 2019.

Vietnam has confirmed five individuals infected with the nCoV, including two Chinese nationals on January 23 and three Vietnamese citizens on January 30.

The country has recorded 97 suspected cases with signs of fever and cough, all from China’s virus-stricken areas. Of them, 32 are in quarantine pending test results, according to the Health Ministry.

Vietnam’s response to nCoV outbreak spotlighted on Asia Times

The Asia Times website on January 30 posted an article reporting on the Vietnamese Government’s response to rapid developments of the pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus (nCoV).

The story quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as stating that fighting the now-global nCoV outbreak is “like fighting an enemy”, which spoke to the need for government-public unity to combat the disease’s spread.

It said the Vietnamese Government has reacted quickly to fast-moving developments, and there also appears to have been competent cooperation between national ministries and regional departments, as well as with provincial People’s Committees and local governments.

The country has introduced a temporary ban on all tourist visas for people from the affected areas of China, while news reports indicated authorities had shut at least part of the country’s border with China on January 28.

The Ministry of Transport, meanwhile, has requested a suspension of all flights to and from the most infected areas of China.

According to the article, the proximity of China and the importance of Chinese visitors to Vietnam’s booming tourism sector, worth roughly one-fifth of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, means the gathering health crisis could impact heavily on the economy.

However, Prime Minister Phuc also said that his government “accepts economic losses to protect the lives and health of people,” Asia Times noted.

As of January 31 morning, 9,805 nCoV cases had been confirmed in 22 countries, with 214 deaths all of which were in China, which reported more than 9,600 infection cases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the nCoV outbreak as a global health emergency./.

PM orders intensification of anti-nCoV measures

The Prime Minister freshly issued a directive on the intensification of measures against the nCoV, in face of the complicated developments of the acute respiratory disease caused by the virus.

The directive said Vietnam is facing a very high risk as it has a long border with China which sees busy activities. Authorities have taken many strong and resolute measures against the disease, but in many localities the spirit and the perception on the work are yet to be high while concrete and proactive plans are yet to be worked out.

As such, the Government leader ordered that authorities, organisations and individuals must strictly implement the PM’s directives on January 23 and 28, as well as the Party Central Committee’s document on January 30.

Localities sharing border lines with China must establish communications channels with their Chinese peers to intensify the work, the granting of permission for all the flights from China’s affected areas to Vietnam and vice versa be suspended except special cases approved by the PM, the directive said.

It further added that the issuance of tourist visas to foreign visitors who are or were in China in the past two weeks must also be suspended except official visas on special cases, and the entry and exit with border passes halted.

Localities are ordered to limit large gatherings, authorities forbidden to send Vietnamese workers to China, and trade and exchanges with China discouraged during the time of the epidemic.

The Ministry of Health must work out a plan and measures to cope with and control the disease, to be submitted to the PM by February 2, the Ministry of Information and Communications must intensify the information and communication on the situation and measures against the disease, and the people are asked to proactively implement advisories by relevant authorities./. 

Chinese firms in Hai Phong requested to actively fight nCoV

The People’s Committee of northern Hai Phong city on January 31 asked Chinese businesses using labourers from China to pay special attention to the fight against the nCoV.

In an urgent meeting with representatives from Chinese firms operating in the city, Vice Chairman of the Committee Le Khac Nam also ordered the municipal Department of Health to direct relevant units to strictly implement measures for preventing the outbreak of the acute respiratory disease caused by the virus.

He laid a special stress on the need to keep a close watch on Chinese citizens working in Hai Phong, and those from affected areas in China that are on their tours to the city.

According to Pham Minh Duc, vice head of the management board of Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA), there are 90 Chinese firms operating in the zone using 1,633 labourers of Chinese nationality, including 104 from China’s Wuhan city.

Nam asked relevant departments and sectors to prepare budget and map out solutions, as well as closely coordinate with Chinese firms to combat the disease./.VNA/VNN