He said the announcement should come after the ministry removes Covid from group A, which lists dangerous infectious diseases with the ability to spread quickly and widely and have a high mortality rate or an unknown causative agent.

Some people wear masks as they watch fireworks to mark Vietnam's Reunification Day in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, April 30, 2023.

It includes influenza A - H5N1, all plague types, smallpox, dengue fever, and cholera.

He also instructed the ministry to wind up the National Steering Committee on Covid-19 Prevention, and take guidance from WHO recommendations and developments on the ground to make new plans to control the disease in the 2023-2025 period.

Since early 2022 he has repeatedly exhorted health authorities to learn from international experiences to adopt new approaches for living with Covid and consider it endemic.

Almost everyone aged 12 years and above in Vietnam had been given two doses of vaccines by mid-2022.

The ministry, wary of new variants, has been cautious about declaring an end to the epidemic.

It has said the declaration should come after WHO declares an end to the pandemic and the situation in Vietnam is well under control.

The latter means the number of cases falls to below 90 per 100,000 residents within a period of 28 days, with fewer than four of them on oxygen, and all cities and provinces should have fully vaccinated 80% of their population and have treatment capacity.

The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on May 5 that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer a global health emergency but remained a threat.

The virus first detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, has killed millions of people and wreaked economic and social havoc.

It remains unclear to this day how and where it first began spreading among humans.

In Vietnam, the disease has killed 43,201 people, but no new deaths have been reported in at least a week, according to a health ministry update on Thursday.

Bac Giang takes active prevention measures against Covid-19 disease in industrial parks

(BGO) – Since early April, several new Covid-19 infections have been detected in some industrial parks (IP) and localities in Bac Giang province. The provincial People’s Committee issued correspondence directing departments and sectors, especially the provincial Industrial Park Management Board (IPMB) to enhance prevention measures and stabilize the production.

Hanoi mandates masks in crowded places as Covid returns

The fresh Covid-19 outbreak in Hanoi means people using public transport and working at supermarkets, cinemas and bars must wear masks, authorities have mandated.

New Covid-19 cases rising again, particularly Omicron variant: health official

The number of new Covid-19 cases is on the rise again, with those infected with Omicron variant making up the majority, and mainly concentrating in the northern region - where the season is changing, Prof. Phan Trong Lan, Director of the Health Ministry's Department of Preventive Medicine reported at a press conference on April 13.

Bac Giang determines to prevent Covid-19 resurgence

(BGO)- Facing new developments of Covid-19 in some countries and spike in Covid-19 cases nationwide, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee (PPC) has issued a directive to continue keeping a close watch on the pandemic situation and attempt to prevent resurgence of the pandemic in the locality.

British Covid-19 patients return and thank Vietnamese doctors

British patients, Dixon John Garth and Shan Coralie Barker, returned to Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases on March 8 to thank doctors and nurses for taking care of them and saving them from Covid-19 three years ago.

Source: VnExpress