HCMC – Despite the new locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases in HCMC, Vietnam is determined to use its lessons and experience from the two previous outbreaks to prevent the third wave of the pandemic in the country, said Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong.
At a press briefing after a regular Cabinet meeting on December 2, Cuong said the prime minister had directed that only areas in HCMC with a high risk of infection should practice social distancing measures. “We should neither be too anxious nor neglect achieving the dual goal,” he added.
Vietnam had earlier announced the resumption of commercial flights with seven countries and, as such, has operated two flights from South Korea and one from Japan. All the passengers have been quarantined at centralized quarantine centers and are being closely monitored, the local media reported.
At a press conference after the regular Cabinet meeting, Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung discussed the country’s socioeconomic performance last month, mainly the fight against Covid-19.
In November, inflation was controlled at a low level and the consumer price index edged down 0.01% month-on-month. The index in the January-November period increased 3.51% over the same period last year.
The number of newly established enterprises grew 6.7%, while the number of those that resumed operations soared 59.8% over the previous month. Moreover, the country gained a record high trade surplus of US$20.2 billion during the 11-month period, with export revenue reaching US$254.6 billion and the import turnover hitting US$234.5 billion.
The disbursement of public investment was also intensified in January-November, meeting 79.3% of the target and up 34% over the same period last year. This was the highest growth during the 2011-2020 period.
The prime minister also highlighted three initiatives comprising planting one billion trees in the next five years, stimulating domestic consumption by bringing goods from rural to urban areas and reforming health insurance policies for children under 16 years of age, mainly those suffering from fatal diseases.
