VN shows effective leadership in COVID-19 battle: WHO official
VGP – Viet Nam has shown the world its effective, drastic and synchronous leadership across many levels of government, from the Prime Minister and ministers to localities, in COVID-19 prevention and control, a senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
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Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, made the remark during an online press briefing held on April 21 |
He expressed concern about the complicated development of COVID-19 in a number of “hot spots” such as Japan and Singapore, while speaking highly of the anti-epidemic efforts made by some nations, including Viet Nam.
According to WHO statistics, Viet Nam is currently the country with the second lowest ratio of COVID-19 infection cases among the total population in the Western Pacific region, with three cases per one million people.
Kasai said that Viet Nam has devised an appropriate plan and implemented it in accordance with what was anticipated in each phase.
The country has not only learned and updated its COVID-19 response plan through every new development of the epidemic, but also conducted tests and traced the people who have contacts with patients, he added.
The WHO official stated that Vietnamese people have implemented travel restrictions and social distancing, which, he said, is not simple at all.
Viet Nam should carefully consider how to start removing restrictions, Kasai said, recommending that all restrictions should not be lifted at the same time.
The easing and removal of social distancing should be based on factors such as actual data on the pandemic, people’s awareness of the disease, the health system’s ability to meet requirements, as well as people’s accessibility to health services, he suggested.
As reported at the press conference, the COVID-19 pandemic had struck 22 countries in the Western Pacific region as of April 20, with 132,438 cases and 5,648 deaths (a mortality rate of 4.26%)./.
By Vien Nhu
