The event was attended by Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Tran Don, head of the Steering Committee, Lieutenant General Le Hien Van, Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics, and Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

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A COVID-19 patient hospitalized in a COVID-19 control exercise under the direction of the Ministry of National Defense

At the conference, Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, Head of the Department of Military Medicine under the General Department of Logistics updated delegates on the developments of COVID-19 at home and abroad. Reportedly, the military has not detected any infected cases; however, military personnel who have been in close contact with suspected cases were cautiously quarantined.

Speeches delivered at the event stressed that the military has always been the leading force in preventing the disease while fulfilling their regular tasks.

In border areas, the border guards have enhanced patrols, instructed people returning from epidemic affected areas to submit the medical declaration form, and undertaken the quarantine procedures as regulated. In addition, the military medicine sector has set up field hospitals and medical emergency teams while completing medical procedures for the COVID-19 patients.

Speaking at the event, General Don praised the efforts and the responsibilities taken by troops throughout army. Prior to the complicated developments of the epidemic, the Ministry of National Defense issued plans to respond to the second stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, including quarantining people returning from epidemic-affected areas. He asked the units’ leadership to work out concrete contents to comprehensively implement their assigned missions.

The deputy defense minister requested all units to increase their available forces and vehicles while closely collaborating with relevant agencies to cope with the epidemic. He also asked the General Department of Politics to accelerate information dissemination on the disease. He agreed with the proposal of the Department of Tactics under the General Staff to build a command post at the headquarters of the Department of Military Medicine to update information for the Defense Ministry’s leadership.

Translated by Trung Thanh