Witness the fight of epidemic in the ‘multi-national’ district

Ho Chi Minh City is called an open city, where a lot of foreigners come to travel, work and live, especially in District 7. How to screen, control and quarantine foreigners suspected of being infected with SARS -CoV-2 in time ? District 7, HCMC has used ‘total-force’ measures to control almost all suspected cases in the area of ​​70,000 foreigners living and working.

One ward has 40 working groups for anti-covid check

How to detect suspected cases in a “multi-national” district such as District 7, HCMC? There are 70,000 foreigners from 60 different countries living and working.

Some foreigners live in condos, others live in houses, some rent hotels, some rent houses to stay with. They sometimes stay in Vietnam, sometimes in other countries, sometimes live in HCMC, but work in another province.

When the Covid-19 outbreak, according to Mrs. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, District 7 People’s Committee Vice-Chairwoman, the whole district was “as tight as strings”. The problem is not only how to control the infection, but also to keep the friendly atmosphere, attract intellectuals, businessmen and foreign investors to the city. “We have to do so that the problem of discrimination does not occur, especially when the epidemic occurs in China, then Korea” – Mrs. Ngoc Hieu said.

On the government side, there is no better way than the government to get into the drastic battle. “For the key wards have many foreigners, we set up 40 working groups for each to operate 24 hours. In other wards, the number of working groups is smaller, but also very active. We closely monitor all fluctuations in people in/out; cases coming from the epidemic areas, even 1 AM or 2 AM, were immediately updated and resolved. ”- Mrs. Hieu said.

The good side is that a ward has 40 working groups, but rarely seeing civil defense, police or health forces on streets. They all quietly come to residential areas or apartments to grasp the situation and solve arising problems quickly.

Centralized quarantine center of District 7, which isolating many foreigners

Each Apartment Is A Fortress

Apartment buildings in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, developed based on the advanced urban model of Phu My Hung, which the apartment building is associated with a neighborhood, activities from Party to people of each apartment building are tied to the neighborhood. Condominiums are part of a residential area, for each residential group.

Present at Phu My apartment, District 7 near Ong Doi bridge, we learned that the management board and the Ward worked together to control the temporary residence of foreigners. “When a new foreigner moves in an apartment, the security guard will notify the Management and the Ward, then check to see if they are from the epidemic area or not? Has a medical declaration been made? ” – a resident in the apartment said. Each apartment building has several “social network groups” to announce the entrance or exit of foreigners to each floor and each condo.

In the apartment building, there is no discrimination, but the management board must clearly notify the residents about where the foreign households have gone to and if they have strictly carried out the quarantine according to regulations?

The city is open and does not discriminate against foreigners, but foreigners must obey Vietnamese laws, especially in making medical declarations. Otherwise, residents at the apartments will require foreign guests to perform mandatory medical examination requirements.

Leaders of District 7, Ho Chi Minh City said: “All of the apartments in District 7 have simultaneously provided disinfectant solutions in apartments elevators from the Lunar New Year to present.”

Some condominiums, such as the Phu My apartment complex, the community buys masks and notices on the “apartment group”, to share for each household to buy a mask box. Ms. Que, who lives in the apartment building, said: “We go everywhere to buy no mask. When we get back to the apartment, we can buy a box of masks at the original price, so touched by hearts of neighbors”.

Each Community Is A Front

Writer Tran Dai Nhat, a mixed-race Korean, said: “Koreans living and working in Vietnam are quite crowded. In District 7 alone, over 10,000 people. Korean community spirit is very high. They have many Facebook pages for Koreans in each area which update the list of each Korean who has just arrived in Vietnam on any flight and date ”.

Dai Nhat showed me Korean community groups in Vietnam with tens of thousands of members. Every demographic change is updated clearly here. “More than anyone else, Koreans living in Vietnam understand that they need to protect the safety of their own community, especially for children and the elderly,” Dai Nhat said.

In Phu My Hung city center, there are some apartment buildings with 80% Koreans. If someone came across an epidemic area to an apartment building, the Koreans themselves would immediately check to see if that person was quarantined or not? seen the doctor yet? Or event how to quarantine so as not to affect others. Ms. Linh, a Vietnamese living in a condominium with Koreans, said: “We have to take body temperature every day from Tet to now, all must comply”.

Mrs. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, District 7 People’s Committee’s Vice Chairwoman also commented: “No one propagates and supervises the medical supervision of Korean people better than the Korean community in Vietnam. We acknowledge this contribution of the Korean community in all anti-covid activities of District 7 ”. The propaganda against Covid-19 in District 7 always takes place in many languages ​​such as English, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese …

Modern Concentrated Isolation Area

District 7 has a centralized isolation center located by the Saigon River. This center is to welcome the majority of suspected cases of foreigners. Operating for one month so far, the center regularly quarantines about 100 suspected cases, of which 60% are foreigners, the rest are Vietnamese who come back from work or study abroad.

Mr. Mai Hong Tien, District 7 Medical Center vice-director, told Tien Phong newspaper: “There are many Koreans who have been quarantined here. The Korean Consulate also visited and highly appreciated the conditions of facilities of this concentrated Isolation area in District 7, HCMC”.

The quarantine area is divided into separate areas for men and women, unless they are with a family. The rooms have a TV, water heater, free wifi. “Three meals daily equivalent to VND120,000 VND/day is provided for free”, Mr. Tien said.

Tran Nguyen Anh/Tien Phong