The Vietnam Ministry of Health has promulgated new regulations governing COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam, including limiting safety guidelines to just mask wearing and sterilization, rather than the previous five health measures that had previously been touted.

Under a decision issued on Thursday, the health ministry officially removed three of the five elements it had previously included in its 5K message, which included khau trang (face mask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distancing), khong tu tap (no gatherings), and khai bao y te (health declaration).

Now, only mask wearing and disinfection remain.

The ministry affirmed that wearing face masks has been an effective measure in protecting health, especially in individuals with underlying diseases. 

Face masks are currently mandatory on public transportation and in health facilities where COVID-19 quarantine is taking place, as well as for people with symptoms of acute respiratory infection or those with or suspected to carry the coronavirus.

Everyone, except children under five years old, when entering public spaces in areas where the epidemic level is labeled as 'level 3l or 'level 4' are also required to wear face masks, according to Health Ministry Guidelines.

Staff at trade centers, supermarkets, and wholesale markets, as well as office employees who have direct client contact, must also wear face marks.

People who work in tight spaces such as bars, discotheques, karaoke parlors, gyms, beauty salons, massage facilities, circuses, stadiums, cinemas, and studios must wear face masks if they have client-facing positions.

In other cases, people are encouraged to wear face masks when in public places, the ministry said.

Regarding its criteria for sanitization, the ministry reminded people to regularly wash their hands with soap and clean water or hand sanitizer, maintain personal hygiene, and disinfect their living, working, and studying environments.

This new 2K message – focused on face mask wearing and disinfection – should be combined with other safety measures such as vaccinations; following guidelines for COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and medical examinations; and the use of smartphone apps for epidemic control purposes.

The ministry calls this newest set of regulations its ‘2K+’ message, which it hopes will help combat new daily infections that seem to be rising across the country.

Meanwhile, the recent appearance of several new coronavirus subvariants has caused the epidemic to continue its development in countries across the world, including in Vietnam, according to the ministry.

The 5K message was adopted by the ministry in August 2020 as a set of regulations meant to help contain the spread of COVID-19 while the country’s vaccination coverage was still low as a result of the scarcity of vaccine supplies.

In October 2021, as the country had finally put the COVID-19 under control and infections and deaths began falling nationwide while immunization rates increased, the central government decided to gradually open the economy as part of a strategy of safely living with the coronavirus.

Since then, the application of the 5K rule has been loosened by authorities of each locality depending on its actual epidemic situation until it was officially narrowed to 2K+ on Thursday.

Vietnam has documented 11,431,823 COVID-19 cases, with 10,261,401 recoveries and 43,126 fatalities, since the pandemic first hit the country in early 2020, the health ministry reported on Thursday.

By September 1, health workers had administered more than 257.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to people nationwide sine vaccinations began rolling out in March 2020, putting Vietnam among the countries with the highest vaccination coverage in the world, the ministry said.

Currently, the inoculation rate of the first and second doses for people aged 12 and over is approximately 100 percent, while the third-shot coverage for people aged 18 and over is 52 percent, twice the average rate in the world, according to the ministry

In addition, the rates of first and second immunization for children from five to less than 12 is higher than those in some developed countries, it added.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!