Vietnam changes Covid approach to death, hospitalization management

According to a Covid-19 prevention program issued by the government, Vietnam would fight the coronavirus based on a risk management approach. Units however still need to be ready for any future scenarios, including a wide enough pandemic that overwhelms the nation’s medical capabilities and the emergence of more dangerous variants.

People would have easier access to health services and prevention protocols would minimize their impacts on people’s lives, according to the program.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health proposed to stop counting daily Covid-19 cases to prevent panic and confusion. Infection numbers are not reflecting the true state of the disease in Vietnam anyway, it argued.

The ministry also proposed for Covid-19 cases to be allowed to work despite still being in their quarantine periods.

Despite rising numbers of infections recently, death rates have been dropping thanks to widespread vaccination. Over the past week, the average number of daily new cases was 170,000, a 39 percent increase from the previous week. However, the average number of daily deaths was 75, a 14 percent drop from the previous week, official data showed.