Hanoi passes Covid-19 peak, return to school on consideration

Hanoi has recorded an average of 17,000 new Covid-19 cases per day over the past week, down 40% from the figure last week, meaning that the city has passed the pandemic peak, according to the municipal Department of Health.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Vu Cao Cuong reported at a meeting this week that from March 18 to 24, the city recorded some 120,000 new infections and 28 deaths.

The decline in Covid-19 infections has enabled the municipal authorities to consider the reopening of schools, ideas were raised at the meeting. 

An overview of the meeting. Photo: The Hanoi Times

At the meeting, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran Luu Hoa said that his department has issued a document on flexibly adapting to the pandemic’s evolution including organizing face-to-face classes for students of grades 7-12 in the capital city.

“However, all people should be still on high alert and abide by the pandemic prevention and control in the coming time,” Cuong noted.

He stressed that all localities in the city would complete injecting the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine for local residents by March 31.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Chu Xuan Dung said that the Covid-19 pandemic in Hanoi is basically put under control.

“The pandemic evolution in the time ahead may still be complicated, all localities should keep enforcing regulations on the Covid-19 prevention and control,” Dung stressed.

He suggested that the Department of Education and Training should regularly update the guiding documents of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Training to resume in-person classes for students from grades 7 to 12.

Day boarding schooling should only be allowed to reopen based on the actual pandemic situation of each locality, with the consent of the students’ parents, Dung added.

He has also assigned the Department of Health and the Department of Information and Communications to apply information technology and deploy software to support Covid-19 patients.

Besides, the vice chairman requested the localities, Hanoi police, and the Department of Health to continue inspecting the pandemic prevention and control work, strictly handling infractions such as inflating the price of drugs and medical supplies for Covid-19 treatment.

“The works must be tightened so as for the novel coronavirus not to spread and the pandemic situation slip out of control,” Dung emphasized.