Public Security Forces join common efforts in fighting new wave of COVID-19

• Health Minister underlines primary task of COVID-19 containment in Q1
• Vietnam approves import of first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
• Minister To Lam inspects task performances of public security units

At the meeting of the Government’s standing members with the National Steering Committee for the COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control on Feb.15, which was chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Public Security Deputy Minister, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Son reported on the efforts of the Public Security Forces in preventing and controlling the disease.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Son speaks at the meeting.

According to him, the Ministry of Public Security has strictly implemented the directives of the Prime Minister and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control while issuing seven official dispatches directing public security agencies and units to promptly implement drastic preventive measures against the pandemic.

Local police officers have come to every household to collect information about COVID-19 patients and suspects while strengthening the management of immigration and foreigners’ residence. Logistical supplies and equipment for pandemic prevention have been ensured while the public security health system has taken due care of the health of police officers, protecting them from the disease, especially during the Lunar New Year of the Buffalo (Tet) 2021.

Police forces nationwide, especially 13 pandemic-hit provinces and cities, have mobilized over 20,000 officers and soldiers in coordination with functional forces to track down people with close contacts to COVID-19 patients in order to prevent the spread of the disease into the community. 

At hundreds of newly-established interdisciplinary COVID-19 checkpoints along interprovincial traffic routes, the police disinfected vehicles, checked the body temperature of all passers-by, and supported thousands of people travelling home for the Tet holiday in making health declarations.

At COVID-19-isolated areas, the police forces maintained their maximum strength to guard around-the-clock against illegal entry and exit. Local police forces also maintained a number of stand-by forces, ready to deal with arising situations of security and disease spread.

So far, thousands of police officers and soldiers have been deployed to ensure security and safety of quarantine zones, medical centers, field hospitals, industrial zones, industrial clusters, and enterprises where COVID-19 cases have been found.

During the Tet holiday, the Public Security Forces also detected and handled various cases of spreading false information about the pandemic situation on social networks, trading in counterfeit goods, speculating and hoarding medical supplies used for pandemic prevention and control, Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Son added.