Omicron is the common, dominant variant.

Reporting at a recent meeting on Covid-19 prevention and control chaired by Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) Phan Trong Lan informed:

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Omicron variant is circulating mainly in the world with some sub-variants such as BA.2.75, CH.1.1, BQ.1, XBB, XBB.1.16, XBB.1.9.1, XBB.1.5, XBF. Of which, the sub-variant XBB.1.5 has been detected in 95 countries.

Mr. Lan affirmed: "Up to this point, the Omicron variant has appeared for 16 months with more than 500 different sub-variants. This variant is currently circulating in most places in the world and is dominant."

Regarding the treatment of Covid-19 patients, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) Nguyen Trong Khoa said that the Department is coordinating with experts to review the Covid-19 treatment guidelines.

"This week, the Professional Council is expected to meet to review and update treatment guidelines to suit the new situation," said Mr. Khoa.

Fact - Omicron is the common, dominant variant — Omicron has been around for 16 months with over 500 different sub-variants.

Regarding screening work at the hospital, according to Mr. Khoa, the screening policy is still maintained in high-risk departments such as intensive care, dialysis and post-surgery.

If a patient shows clinical signs of Covid-19, a screening test is needed immediately to separate the patient into a separate area to avoid spreading the disease.

Hospitals need to continue to communicate and remind patients, patients' families and medical staff to wear masks in the hospital environment.

At the meeting, Deputy Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases Nguyen Thanh Ha said that in January 2023, the hospital only received 20 cases for treatment, in February it was 21 cases, in March it increased to 45 cases, but since April it has increased.

Specifically, the first week was 47 cases, the second week increased to 85 cases and as of late this afternoon, the hospital is treating 146 cases, of which 21 cases show signs of worsening.

According to Mr. Ha, most of these 21 patients are over 70 years old; most have underlying diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, tuberculosis, HIV, COPD, hepatitis, cirrhosis... if they do not have Covid-19, just having the flu is also a high risk.

The hospital has established a hotline for consultation and professional support for lower levels to stratify and transfer patients appropriately and avoid overloading upper levels.

Facts - Omicron is the common, predominant variant (Figure 2). — Promote propaganda messages on Covid-19 prevention.

After listening to the reports and discussions of delegates and experts on treatment, Minister Dao Hong Lan requested to soon hold a meeting of the professional council, review and update treatment guidelines, and organize dissemination.

Minister Dao Hong Lan assigned departments, bureaus, institutes, hospitals, and offices according to their assigned functions and tasks to review the contents of licensing, purchasing, receiving funding, allocating, transferring equipment, drugs, vaccines, etc. to be proactive in epidemic prevention work.

At the same time, promote propaganda messages on Covid-19 epidemic prevention so that people comply with 2K (Masks, Disinfection) + vaccines + drugs + treatment + technology + public awareness and other measures...

In Vietnam, in the first 3 months of 2023, the whole country recorded 2,070 Covid-19 cases, an average of 160 cases per week, the rate of severe disease/infection was 1.3%. However, from the beginning of April 2023 until now, the number of cases has tended to increase.

From April 1 to April 7, there were 278 cases/week, the severe/infection rate was 1.4%; from April 8 to April 14, there were 2,000 cases, however the severe/infection rate was 1.1%. The whole country has gone 108 days without recording any deaths due to Covid-19.

Regarding gene sequencing, up to now, through gene sequencing monitoring results, it has been shown that common sub-variants in the world have all been recorded in Vietnam.

Regarding Covid-19 vaccination, information at the meeting said that the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has just provided Hanoi with 10,000 more doses of vaccine to vaccinate subjects according to instructions.

The Ministry of Health continues to request localities to synthesize the need for Covid-19 vaccines for vaccination in the last 6 months of 2023, especially for high-risk groups .

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