PM requests roadmap for reopening of schools, tourism

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the Ministry of Education and Training to announce a roadmap for reopening of schools.

Pham, who is head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, made the request on Thursday while chairing a virtual meeting with localities on COVID-19 response.

The roadmap must specifies the date and conditions for school reopening as well as response protocols in case a student is infected with COVID-19 in order to minimize parental concerns over this issue, the Government chief ordered.

To date all 63 cities and provinces have issued plans to resume physical learning no later than February 14, according to Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son.

However, only 51 percent of the localities have decided to reopen nursery schools and 53 percent of them planned to reopen primary schools, Nguyen added.

As of January 26, nearly 100 percent of adult population took the first COVID-19 vaccine jabs while second and booster shot coverage reached 95.7 percent and 22.3 percent respectively, the Ministry of Health reported.

Meanwhile, the number of children aged between 12 and 17 getting the first and second shots rose to 95.2 percent and 86 percent, said the ministry.

Given the situation, PM Pham launched Spring vaccination campaign last week with an aim to further increase the COVID-19 vaccination rate.

The campaign is scheduled be implemented from February 1 to 28, which means COVID-19 vaccine administration will continue during the nine-day Lunar New Year festival that start from December 31.

At the meeting, Pham also tasked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with relevant agencies to announce a roadmap for reopening of tourism at the earliest to ensure that the country does not miss development opportunities.

He assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with relevant agencies to develop immigration protocol in favor of the implementation of the aforesaid roadmap.

Viet Nam recorded 2,203,208 COVID-19 infection cases as of 6:00 pm on Thursday, of which 1,945,611 cases have recovered.

The national tally includes 160 imported Omicron patients arrived in Viet Nam from 22 countries.