HCMC – The Ministry of Health has ordered relevant agencies to test food imported from countries and territories that have reported Covid-19 outbreaks in order to prevent a further spread of the virus into Vietnam.The Ministry asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as the General Department of Vietnam Customs under the Ministry of Finance to closely control food, especially frozen food, imported from Covid-19 affected countries. They have also been urged to take samples from the packaging for testing and reporting the results to the Ministry of Health. On November 25, Nguyen Thanh Phong, head of the Vietnam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health, said that since imported food may pose a high risk for the spread of Covid-19, the Ministry asked relevant agencies to conduct tests and report difficulties during the testing process to the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control. According to the Ministry, Covid-19 remains complicated worldwide. Some countries have tested imported food and found coronavirus on the packaging of frozen food. While Vietnam has successfully controlled the pandemic, the risk of the Covid-19 remains high. Samples from imported food packaging will be taken at border gates, Phong noted, adding that the Ministry of Health has yet to ask importers to pay the testing fee, so the prices of imports will not increase. Associate Professor Tran Dac Phu, former head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, said the testing is necessary to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 in the community. |
Vietnam to test food imported from Covid-19 affected countries
