Vietnam works closely with WHO, US CDC to deal with Omicron threat
(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam is working closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) in response to new coronavirus variant Omicron, according to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.
 Italian scientists announce the image of new variant Omicron. (Photo: Sputnik/VNA) |
The Health Ministry on Tuesday held a meeting on the threats of the very concerning variant with WHO Representative in Vietnam Kidong Park, CDC Southeast Asia Regional Director John MacArthur, and Director of US CDC Vietnam’s Global Health Security Programme Matthew Moore.
Minister Long said as of Tuesday morning, Vietnam had not detected any case of the new variant. The ministry last week asked the government to halt flights to/from several African countries including South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia.
The WHO and CDC representatives all stressed the four important steps in dealing with Omicron, including enhancing testing and surveillance, speeding up vaccination, boosting the capacity of the medical system, especially at the grassroots level, and stepping up communication on COVID-19 prevention and control measures.