Why has the number of COVID-19 cases increased in recent days?

The number of COVID-19 cases shows signs of increasing, the weather is very "favorable" for the virus to spread, while people's immunity has decreased.

People's immunity has decreased

In recent days, the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide has shown signs of increasing rapidly. According to statistics of the Ministry of Health, the number of new cases has skyrocketed to over 200 cases on April 12 (while many days before that, only less than 10 cases were recorded), the previous days also recorded over 100 cases. infected/day.

Hanoi alone is also recording about 240 COVID-19 cases, of which 124 are being treated at medical facilities, some mild cases are treated and monitored at home.

Specifically, from the beginning of April until now, every day Duc Giang General Hospital (Hanoi) receives treatment from 5 to 10 cases of COVID-19, most of which have mild symptoms. Director of the Hospital, Mr. Nguyen Van Thuong, said: The hospital still arranges a certain number of hospital beds to serve the treatment of COVID-19, ensuring medicines and equipment such as ventilators, dialysis, etc. ready for situations. As of April 11, at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases (Hanoi), as of April 11, there were 74 COVID-19 patients being treated, of which 10 were using oxygen glasses.

Regarding the cause of the spike in COVID-19 patients, Dr. Nguyen Trong Hung, deputy in charge of the Infectious Diseases Unit, Thanh Nhan Hospital, said: "It is possible that recently, many people have neglected to vaccinate against COVID-19, causing the immune response in the community to decrease. Besides, the hot and humid weather is also very favorable for the virus to grow and spread, causing the number of cases to increase."

According to a representative of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control, the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has increased compared to previous months. The rate of vaccination against COVID-19 booster dose is still low in some units, so post-vaccination immunity has been reduced over time. Meanwhile, booster vaccination in preventing disease and death from COVID-19, especially for new strains, is still confirmed to be effective.

Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control, said: "In order to effectively prevent the COVID-19 epidemic, we still recommend that people who have not received enough basic vaccinations should not be vaccinated against the disease. enough injections; continue to inject additional doses of 3rd and 4th doses at commune health stations. In cases of illness, if people have mild symptoms, people can self-isolate and monitor at home; only cases are in the high-risk group, those with severe symptoms and signs need to go to a medical facility for treatment."

Elsewhere, Lao Cai province is also having an outbreak of COVID-19 with more than 50 cases at Khanh Yen Secondary School (Khanh Yen town, Van Ban district).

Don't let the virus spread

Assessing the situation of the COVID-19 epidemic, Prof. Dr. Phan Trong Lan, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) said: In fact, currently, the number of COVID-19 cases is concentrated mainly in the Northern region. , where the weather is changing seasons. The number of cases has increased by nearly 4 times compared to the previous week. The weather is currently favorable for the development of the virus, while people's awareness, especially about wearing masks in public places, especially at medical examination and treatment facilities, is still not guaranteed.

Accordingly, it is forecast that the number of COVID-19 cases in the near future may increase; However, Vietnam is still at epidemic level 1, corresponding to the color blue.

The representative of the Ministry of Health said that the World Health Organization still considers the COVID-19 epidemic as an international public health emergency in the context of continuing to closely monitor the situation of the epidemic. changes, emergence of virus strains, new variants in the future. Although globally, rates of hospitalization, severe transfer, and death have decreased significantly from a year ago, some groups are still at high risk of serious illness or death, including: the elderly, people with underlying diseases, immunocompromised people, and pregnant women, therefore, priority should be given to protecting these groups. Along with COVID-19, other infectious diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease, dengue fever, influenza, etc. also have the risk of increasing the number of cases, leading to the risk of epidemics.
In order to actively prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic, in the coming time, the Ministry of Health will continue to focus on monitoring and closely monitoring the situation of domestic and international infectious diseases; strengthen close monitoring of epidemics at border gates, in the community, at medical examination and treatment establishments; increase sampling of suspected cases for testing, gene sequencing, in order to detect disease cases early, especially when new variants of the virus as well as sub-variants have the potential to cause severe disease, evade immunity or reduce the effectiveness of drugs. Promote vaccination against COVID-19, especially for high-risk cases, children from 5 to under 12 years old, especially in provinces, big cities, key tourist areas, with a large number of international visitors. economic growth will also be promoted in the near future.

The Ministry of Health has also asked provinces and cities to strengthen the prevention and control of COVID-19; absolutely not be subjective, neglect, lose vigilance.

Besides promoting vaccination against COVID-19, reviewing and mobilizing subjects to participate in vaccination; Localities are also proactive in monitoring and closely monitoring the epidemic situation in their localities, preparing to respond to possible epidemic situations.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health also suggested that units well organize the collection, emergency, care and treatment of COVID-19 cases, especially for high-risk groups such as: pregnant women, people with underlying diseases, the elderly, etc. to minimize deaths and strictly implement infection control, to prevent cross-contamination in treatment facilities...

In order to prevent the spread of the disease, the Ministry of Health has strongly advised people to comply with epidemic prevention requirements such as: Wearing masks, disinfecting in medical facilities, on public transport and at public places. places and events that gather a large number of people, especially people need to be alert to prevent the spread of the disease during the holidays in the near future.

* SOURCE: https://baotintuc.vn/y-te/vi-sao-so-ca-mac-covid19-tang-cao-nhung-ngay-gan-day-20230413160656131.htm