On October 11th 2021, the Government issued Resolution No.128/NQ-CP adopting provisional guidelines on “safe, flexible adaptation to and effective control on the COVID-19 pandemic” (“Resolution”) with the aim of: (i) protecting the public’s health and life to the maximum; (ii) minimizing infection cases, severe disease transfer and death due to the COVID-19; (iii) socio-economic recovery and development, ensuring the security, public order and safety; (iv) effecting the due goal in light of turning the nation into “new normal” as soon as possible, striving such achievement in the year of 2021.
Four-level pandemic risk
The Resolution specifies on the classification, assessment, and determination of pandemic risk levels. Accordingly, pandemic risk level is classified into 04 following levels:
- Level 1: Low-risk (new normal) equivalent to the color of green;
- Level 2: Medium-risk equivalent to the color of yellow;
- Level 3: High-risk equivalent to the color of orange; and
- Level 4: Very high-risk equivalent to the color of red.
Scope of pandemic assessment risk: the assessment shall be carried out from the commune level. Assessment from the smallest possible scale (below the commune level) is encouraged to ensure the flexibility as well as efficiency.
The Resolution also details 03 indicators to determine the pandemic risk, including:
- number of new infections/population/time;
- vaccine coverage rate (the high-risk age group, first dose rate, and full dose rate should be taken into account); and
- treatment capacity of administrative levels (the available treatment capacity and ancillary plans should be clearly identified).
Responsive measures with regards to four-level pandemic risk:
Health measures, inclusive of medical isolation, testing, providing accommodation, treatment, vaccination, shall be carried out under the Ministry of Health’s guidance at all levels.
The Resolution specifies response measures of 04 levels of pandemic risk applicable to the activities of organizations, agencies, enterprises, including:
- indoor and outdoor gatherings;
- road, inland waterway, sea passenger transport;
- interprovincial and intra-provincial transportation of goods;
- operations of production, business, service activities (inclusive of production facilities, construction units of traffic and construction projects; business and service facilities including supermarkets, trade centers, convenient stores, wholesale markets; restaurants/diners, traditional markets; facilities providing services with high-risk of infection such as discotheques, karaoke parlors, bars, Internet shops, electronic game shops, barber shops, beauty salons and other service facilities, street vending, selling of lottery tickets, etc.)
- face-to-face education activities;
- operations of public agencies;
- operations of religious sites;
- operations of resorts, hotels, motels, tourism sites; cultural, art and sport performances (including facilities, resorts, hotels, motels, tourist attractions; museums, exhibitions, libraries, cinemas, venues for cultural, art and sport performances, etc.); and
- application of information technology.
With regards to the individuals, the Resolution also set out the measures, including 5K compliance; application of information technology; travel of people from areas with different levels of pandemic risk; home treatment for people infected with COVID-19.
The Resolution shall be implemented synchronously nationwide as of October 11th, 2021.
Detail of the Resolution No.128/NQ-CP: DOWNLOAD