40% of Hanoians Do Not Wear Facemasks at Public Places: Vietnam Official

As many as 40% of people in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi do not wear facemasks at public places, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh has revealed at a meeting of the city’s anti-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) committee on November 19. Mr. Hanh recalled the latest COVID-19 relapse suspect, calling health agencies and local citizens to be always ready to deal with the reemergence of the disease after three months recording no COVID-19 community infections. Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy proposed tightening their management over the wearing of facemasks and disciplining violators strictly. He noted that the city is applying light punishments of warnings and will apply heavier punishments if the situation does not improve soon. Meanwhile, Mr. Hanh also called on local health agencies to tighten supervision over imported cases who are quarantined at hotels, noting that over 1,500 people have been isolated at hotels, triple those at quarantine camps. As of November 20, Vietnam recorded 1,304 COVID-19 infections, including 35 deaths and 1,142 recoveries, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said. The Vietnamese government has issued Decree 117/2020/ND-CP, under which people who do not wear facemasks in public places will receive fines of VND1 million – VND3 million ($43-$129), or ten times higher than the previous regulations. The new decree has come into effect since November 15. (Giao Duc Thoi Dai, Giao Duc Thoi Dai)