The Ministry of Health has issued a dispatch to ministries, government agencies, and people's committees of centrally run localities regarding the prevention and control of COVID-19 as a Group B disease.

The Cabinet leader recalled “the most challenging periods with worries and concerns in an unprecedented pandemic situation”.

Regular risk assessments should still be conducted, and corresponding response measures should be implemented to prevent and control outbreaks at different risk levels.

Vietnam has officially downgraded the classification of Covid-19 to a Class B infectious disease from October 20 following a decision signed by Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has proposed to amend the regulations related to COVID-19 as the number of new cases has consistently remained low in recent weeks.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued a directive on proactive implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, infectious diseases, as well as measures to prevent the resurgence of the pandemic.

The US Agency for International Development, in partnership with UNICEF, has delivered 590 vaccine refrigerators to Vietnam as part of the support to further improve cold chain systems for routine immunization and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

COVID-19 patients will not be given free treatment when the disease is downgraded from its current placement in Class A infectious diseases to Class B, said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong.

On Saturday, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control approved the downgrade in the classification of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, chaired the committee's 20th meeting via teleconference with all 63 provinces and centrally-run cities of the country.

According to the health ministry's statistics, to date, Vietnam has recorded over 11.6 million COVID-19 infections, with total recoveries logged at 10.63 million.

More than VND230 trillion, or roughly US$10 billion, was mobilized to directly serve the Covid-19 prevention and control effort between 2020 and 2022, according to a report by a National Assembly (NA) supervisory delegation.

At the ongoing fifth session of the 15th National Assembly (NA) held on May 29, Nguyen Lan Hieu of the NA Delegation of Binh Dinh province suggested that the end of COVID-19 should be announced.

A supervision team has submitted to the National Assembly a report on monitoring the mobilization, management and use of resources to prevent and control Covid-19, and implement policies and laws on grassroots and preventive medicine.

The prime minister has told the Ministry of Health to coordinate with other relevant agencies to prepare the necessary documents for shifting Covid-19 from type A to type B infectious disease and announce the Covid-19 pandemic is over in Vietnam.

The rate of people dying from Covid-19 in Vietnam is at 0.37 percent, still higher than the rate from other infectious diseases which is at 0.09 percent, said a senior health official.

In spite of high herd immunity due to infections and vaccinations, people still need to be vigilant and take appropriate measures, she said.

Vietnam recorded 3,399 new COVID-19 cases on May 5, the highest daily number over the past six months, according to the Ministry of Health.

After four months without recording a single death caused by COVID-19, Vietnam logged its first case in mid-April, and more than 10 COVID-related deaths have since been documented in the country.