Hanoi (VNA) – The Defence Ministry held a conference in Hanoi on January 8 reviewing the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the army.

Speaking at the event, Director of the Military Medical Department Maj.Gen Nguyen Xuan Kien said the entire army seriously followed directions by the Prime Minister, the Central Military Commission, the Defence Ministry and its Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control; took synchronous, drastic and effective measures to promptly prevent the spread of the virus in the army.

In particular, the anti-COVID-19 work also contributed to the success of the 11th Party Congress of the Vietnam People’s Army and other national defence tasks.

Last year, the Defence Ministry’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control maintained meetings with units to grasp the situation and learn from experience. It also held anti-pandemic drills with over 22,000 people taking part.

Via patrols, border guards discovered over 31,400 illegal immigrants and sent them to localities for quarantine, and completed procedures for over 2.3 million people entering and leaving the country via border gates.

As of December 31, the entire army set up 174 quarantine establishments, put over 159,000 under quarantine, and welcomed 264 flights with more than 68,000 passengers.

Chairing the event, Deputy Defence Minister and head of the steering committee Sen. Lieu. Gen Tran Don hailed the army for accomplishing its assigned tasks.

He, however, warned that there is a high risk of COVID-19 infections in the army in the near future due to higher travelling demand across the border during the Lunar New Year festival, particularly via illegal immigrants, and cold climate condition. 

Don cited four sources of high-risk infection, including illegal immigrants, legal immigrants who fail to follow quarantine regulations, cases existing in the community, and imported goods that are produced or transported via countries hit by the pandemic.

In order to minimise infections and deaths, Don asked Party committees and leaders of army units to raise their sense of responsibility for seriously following directions by the Party Central Committee's Politburo and Secretariat, the Central Military Commission, the Defence Ministry and guidelines of the Health Ministry and the Military Medicine Department on pandemic prevention and control in the current situation.

General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and the steering committees at all levels were urged to deploy forces round the clock to deal with contingencies, work with the foreign affairs, transport and health ministries and relevant units to arrange flights and avoid overload at quarantine facilities. 

Units were assigned to grasp situation at sea, on air and cyber space, and at border areas while border guards must prevent illegal immigration to maintain local security and order. 

The General Department of Politics was responsible for working with Border Guard High Command and localities to urge residents to discover and inform against illegal immigrants at border areas, seriously punish violators, and even take legal proceedings against them if necessary./.