District 7 and the suburban district of Cu Chi have both been selected as the models for other localities to learn from and adjust their strategies for pandemic prevention and control. The two districts will also be pilot models for the implementation of the new normal scenario in Ho Chi Minh City after September 15.

Recognised numbers

According to Vice Chairwoman of the Cu Chi District People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hang, the district recorded 2,327 COVID-19 infections from August 15 to 31, including 1,547 cases in the blockaded areas, 222 cases in concentrated isolation areas, and 558 cases in the community. By the end of August, the district had only one commune as a high-risk area, three communes as at-risk areas, and the remaining 17 communes as new normal areas.

By the end of August, more than 93.3% of adults in Cu Chi District had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while nearly 3.9% of adults had been injected with their second dose.

The district has also set up 10 mobile medical stations to manage and take care of F0s in quarantine at home. The locality has also conducted COVID-19 testing for its entire population in “red, orange, and yellow zones” three times and all of its population in “green zones” twice.

According to Secretary of District 7 Party Committee Vo Khac Thai, District 7 had about 2,600 F0s at the end of August, with most of them being cared for and treated at home in a safe and scientific way.

In the past two weeks, the ratio of COVID-19 infections to the total number of tests is only about 1:100. The number of F0 deaths in the district has also decreased sharply while the number of infections in the community and the number of deaths are very low compared to the overall rates of the whole city.

As of September 2, the district had injected nearly 244,000 doses of vaccine to its people, becoming one of the most effective vaccination groups in the city. District 7 also no longer has medical blockade zones while “green zones” account for about 55% and “red zones” account for nearly 26% of the total zones in the district. All 10 wards in the district were granted with the certificate of controlled pandemic.

Creative means of implementation

Secretary of District 7 Party Committee Vo Khac Thai said that the district had carefully prepared and predicted the complicated developments of the pandemic to prepare medical facilities to meet the treatment needs. When the city required each district to prepare about 200 beds for F0s, District 7 proactively arranged 33 capable facilities to care for F0s and established a 600-bed field hospital with a two-layer treatment model. Thus, if the pandemic becomes complicated, medical facilities will not be overloaded and patients can be received and treated promptly, Thai said.

Vaccination against COVID-19 for workers in District 7 (Ho Chi Minh City).

The biggest success of District 7 is to improve the local health capacity in order to monitor and take care of people with medical needs during the pandemic. The district set up 10 community health groups with 10 to 15 medical workers each, who act as “quick response” forces to care for F0 and F1 in the community under the guidance of the Ministry of Health.

District 7 has also established 44 medical stations, including 34 mobiles ones to take care of F0s at home, provide them with medical consultation, and transfer serious cases to hospitals.

The district has also established a number of medical teams at residential areas, markets, enterprises and religious establishments so that people can assist each other in COVID-19 testing and monitoring community health.

In addition, District 7 has organised social security teams of 30 to 50 households each to coordinate and provide goods and relief for people in difficulty and gather statistics towards the implementation of support policies for needy people.

One of the solutions for Cu Chi District to control the pandemic is to ensure social security for the people. According to Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Cu Chi District Pham Thi Thanh Hien, the district has actively established forces to help the locals with buying food and quickly bring support packages to disadvantaged households so that people can feel secure staying at home and obey social distancing.

The district has also implemented quick solutions in testing, tracing, and vaccination, and has become the only locality in Ho Chi Minh City that has completed testing for all people in “red, orange, and yellow zones” three times and people in the “green zones” twice. The district so far has 14 communes and towns recognised as “green zones”, three communes as “near green zones”, three communes as “yellow zones” and only one commune as an “orange zone”.

At a recent meeting with Cu Chi and District 7, Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen noted that the two districts have actively, flexibly, and strictly implemented many initiatives in pandemic prevention and control regarding zoning, tracing, testing, and managing F0s, showing very high compliance during the social distancing period.