Suspension of health declarations under review by Ministry of Health

A person filling in a health declaration. — VNA/- VnExpress News Photo Thành Đạt

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced on Friday that it will review the temporary suspension of domestic health declaration protocols that are active during the pandemic.

This move is to enable citizens to travel more freely in the country.

According to the MoH, data has optimistically shown that the COVID-19 pandemic is currently under control in Việt Nam. The number of daily cases has fallen 20 times compared to the peak in mid-March.

With less than 8,000 cases per day, this is the lowest daily case number in Việt Nam since the Omicron variant emerged in the country. Daily deaths have fallen ten times, while severe cases have fallen five times.

“As we are not doing contact tracing anymore, we are going to cease using health declarations,” said Nguyễn Thanh Long, Minister of Health, “This is one of the first steps toward normalcy.”

In case of the emergence of new variants or unusual developments of the pandemic, health declaration protocols will return and the MoH will notify specific provinces and cities.

Earlier on Wednesday, the MoH issued a suspension on health declarations for people entering Việt Nam.

This comes after the sharp decline in Việt Nam’s and worldwide COVID cases and deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) however, urges people to stay vigilant of COVID-19, citing the emergence of new variants that could complicate the current situation.

The WHO’s General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that countries are “downplaying the threat” of the virus since the total test figures are declining.

Although the number of weekly deaths worldwide is the lowest since March 2020, lower test figures would mean that the WHO will get less data on the virus and make it harder to track the changes and evolution of SARS-CoV-2. — – VnExpress News