The meeting was connected to more than 9,000 locations in communes, wards and towns, 705 districts and townships, and 63 provinces and cities across the country.

PM Chinh, who is also head of the national steering committee, acknowledged and praised the efforts, unity and consensus of party committees, administrations, Fatherland Front Committees at all levels as well as officials and people in localities in implementing social distancing.

He also commended frontline forces such as health workers, military officers and soldiers, policemen and volunteers for their endeavors to overcome difficulties and hardships to step up the pandemic combat.

The government leader stressed that considering communes and wards as fortresses and each person as a soldier and placing people at the centre of the fight against the pandemic is a sound policy.

However, the efficiency of COVID-19 prevention and control is not high as expected because the implementation remained limited and showed shortcomings in many localities, he said.

The pandemic is still complicated and unpredictable, he said, adding that the continued implementation of social distancing will cause difficulties for people, stagnate production activities and disrupt supply chains.

Therefore, PM Chinh asked administrations at all levels, sectors and localities to double efforts to soon control the pandemic, thus bringing the life to new normal.

He requested localities to strengthen the apparatus of their steering committees for COVID-19 prevention and control with secretaries of party committees working as heads, and set up command centres led by chairpersons of people’s committees.

Localities applying social distancing must define their targets, roadmaps and measures to improve the efficiency of the pandemic fight and avoid extending social distancing without achieving the set goals, affecting socio-economic development and people’s lives, he said.

The PM demanded localities to strictly carry out five major tasks, namely strictly taking social distancing regulations; ensuring social security and not letting people lack food and necessities; guaranteeing people get early access to medical services right in communes and wards; maintaining social order and safety; and step up communication campaigns to help people better understand and join hands with the entire political system in the fight against the pandemic.

Localities were required to coordinate with sectors, especially the health sector, to conduct large-scale testing for all people in an effective and safe manner, while expanding and enhancing treatment capacity.

He said the government considered the vaccine strategy an extremely important factor as leaders of the Party and State, the PM, sectors and agencies have spared no efforts to perform vaccine diplomacy in a bid to secure vaccines as many as and as quickly as possible for people.

Regarding production and circulation of goods, the PM asked for the gradual recovery and stepping up of production in localities that complete social distancing period, while ensuring safety and strictly implementing pandemic prevention and control regulations in industrial parks, and production and business establishments.