The event was chaired by Senior Lieutenant General Tran Don, Deputy Defense Minister and Head of the Steering Committee, and attended by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan and Deputy Chief of the General Department of Politics Lieutenant General Le Hien Van.
Addressing the event, Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, Chief of the Military Medical Department under the General Department of Logistics, reviewed that as of 2 p.m. on March 23, COVID-19 has spread to 17 provinces and cities across the country with 118 people infected, and the military has not recorded any infected cases. Over the past time, military units have received and provided quarantine zones for more than 36,700 people returning or coming from COVID-19-hit areas, of whom more than 18,000 have completed quarantine procedures.
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Senior Lieutenant General chairing the event |
In addition, military medical units, including the Military Medical University, Military Central Hospital 108 and Military Hospital 175, are able to test and provide treatment to infected persons.
Particularly, the Military Medical University’s Military Hospital 103 and Military Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Institute are able to test suspected cases for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Military Central Hospital 108 has 22 medical bases capable of testing for the disease.
At the conference, delegates agreed that COVID-19 will develop complicatedly in the second stage and it requires the whole military to work out drastic measures to prevent the disease from spreading. So far, the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission has issued a directive on stepping up COVID-19 containment efforts in the military. Following the instruction, the Military Medical Department continues to form quick-response teams and build field hospitals for the disease prevention mission and train medical personnel to use the Vietnam-made test kits while border guard units dispatch thousands of troops to guard around the clock at border areas and border gates.
Concluding the meeting, General Don emphasized that the military’s efforts in preventing COVID-19 have been highly appreciated by the Party, State, citizens, and international friends. He said that Stage 2 is complicated with high risk of disease transmission within the community, including the military force. The Deputy Defense Minister asked the whole military to keep in touch with and predict the developments of the disease and strictly implement the instructions on COVID-19 prevention.
General Don requested military medical units and field hospitals to gear up to undertake more infected patients. Military Central Hospital 108 and Military Hospital 175 were asked to ready facilities to quarantine and treat senior officers, while the General Department of Logistics was instructed to prepare ten mobile test labs. He urged the Military Medical Department to further instruct businesses to manufacture face masks for troops and the General Staff to add the COVID-19 prevention content to training programs. Troops should exercise medical regulations, so as to protect themselves from COVID-19.
Personnel at quarantine areas should provide wholehearted service to the people.
Translated by Tran Hoai