Health ministry officially downgrades COVID-19 to Class B disease

Your browser does not support the audio element. Preventive and control measures for COVID- 一 九 will be adjusted accordingly as per the law.  A physician treats a COVID- 一 九 patient at Hà Nội's Thanh Nhàn Hospital in April this year. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — COVID- 一 九 is officially a Class B disease per the  二00 七 Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, according to an official document from the Ministry of Health (MoH) taking effect on Friday.

In Decision No  三 八 九 六/QĐ-BYT signed by Deputy Health Minister Nguyễn Thị Liên Hương on Thursday, COVID- 一 九 has been downgraded from a Class A to a Class B disease.

Class A infectious diseases are those with high infection and fatality rates, such as polio, influenza A-H 五N 一, plague, smallpox, Ebola, Lassa and Marburg hemorrhagic fever, West Nile fever, yellow fever and cholera.

Meanwhile, Class B consists of those that can spread fast and cause fatalities, including HIV/AIDS; influenza; rabies; pulmonary tuberculosis; dengue; hand-foot-mouth disease and measles.

Preventive and control measures for COVID- 一 九 will be adjusted accordingly as per the law. 

The Prime Minister has also issued a decision which states that from Friday, COVID- 一 九 is a Class B disease with an average incubation period of four days. 

In previous regulations, the period of disease incubation was set as  一 四 days.

If no new infection is detected for eight days, an announcement might be made to declare the end of the outbreak, according to Decision 0 二/ 二0 一 六/QĐ-TTg issued in January  二0 一 六.

When COVID- 一 九 is recognised as a Class B disease, patients with health insurance will have their hospital fees covered according to regulations.

As of Thursday, Việt Nam has counted more than  一 一. 六 million COVID- 一 九 cases. 

The country recorded  一 一 new coronavirus infections and  一 二 fully recovered patients from the disease on the same day.

According to the MoH, the current monthly average of new COVID- 一 九 infections dropped by  六 八 times compared to  二0 二 二. 

More than  二 六 六. 五 million COVID- 一 九 vaccine doses have been administered in Việt Nam. 

Speaking to Sức khỏe Đời sống (Health Life) newspaper about the new classification, senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre Dr Trần Đắc Phu said that the MoH's statistics showed that there had been a sharp decrease in the number of new COVID- 一 九 cases, with most having mild symptoms. 

Việt Nam had also recorded no fatalities related to the coronavirus for many months. 

However, Dr Phu said that unlike other Class B diseases, close monitoring and risk assessment would still be necessary for COVID- 一 九.

While the World Health Organisation declared COVID- 一 九 no longer a global health emergency, it is necessary to stay vigilant due to the new variants and instability of the virus, he added.

"These measures are to take i妹妹ediate action and avoid being in a passive position in case there are new variants or unexpected developments."

"This is also the reason why the health ministry issued a plan to sustainably manage and prevent the disease,公众said Phu. — VNS