Free COVID tests for truckers to ease supply shortage
The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Transport have reached an agreement on the testing protocol for truckers, a move that will likely solve the shortage of essential goods in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry ofTransport have reached an agreement on the testing protocol for truckers, amove that will likely solve the shortage of essential goods in Ho Chi MinhCity.
Truckers must provide health officials with negative test results to COVID-19done using quick tests or RT-PCR tests, which take longer to produce a resultbut are usually more accurate. Test results will be valid and usable for 72hours.
The MoH has pledged to set up additional testing sites along major routes tospeed up the process and tests for truckers will be supplied free of charge.
These measures were agreed upon during a meeting of the National SteeringCommittee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Hanoi on July 17.
As for the other 19 provinces in the Mekong Delta, truckers may still travelwithout a negative test result. However, they have been asked to regularlydisinfect their vehicles and limit contact with others. Local governments havealso been told to set rest stops for truckers, away from localcommunities. The Ministry of Health has said it will set up 25 mobileCOVID-19 test units with capacity to perform over 2000 tests per day tomeet a rising demand for COVID tests. The units will be sent to high-risk localities.
The ministry said it has started talks with suppliers to secure more medicalresources including test kits, ventilators, PPE suits and dialysers.
The Ministry of Health has also set up a 1000-bed hospital under the ministry'sdirect management in HCM City but has left the door open to take further actionif necessary.
"The ministry will provide HCM City with the best doctors and resources.We are determined to win this fight," Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Longhas said.
Also at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked health officials toprioritise testing in COVID-19 hotspots such as HCM City and start preparingfor a worst-case scenario./.
Additional 42 COVID-19 infections, including five imported ones, were confirmed in the last 12 hours to 6am on June 24, raising the national tally to 13,989, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities have tightened COVID-19 prevention measures by setting up 25 task forces in 21 districts and Thu Duc city, and improving testing capacity to 1 million samples per day.
The Ministry of Health on July 2 received 190,000 COVID-19 test kits worth some 500,000 USD donated by German states via the World University Service of Germany (WUS).
Air passengers are required to present a valid negative coronavirus test result before travelling from/to Ho Chi Minh City, according to a new directive by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) on intensifying COVID-19 response.
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Health experts called for collective disease prevention and integrated solutions to achieve zero dengue deaths in the country at an online talk show on June 14.
The PM called for closer, broader, and more effective cooperation with Vietnamese partners, guided by the principles of mutual benefit, joint efforts, shared outcomes, and common development, including promoting stronger public-private partnerships and collaboration with businesses.
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Leading Vietnamese companies specialising in respiratory and dermatological treatments, traditional medicine, immune support supplements, and functional foods will have an opportunity to connect with international distributors and secure export deals.
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This case marks the ninth fetal cardiac intervention conducted in HCM City, and it was considered the most technically demanding to date due to the fetus’s extremely early gestational age and the severity of the condition as diagnosed with aortic atresia.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place one day after the VNVC Vaccine JS Company and Sanofi Group exchanged cooperation documents on vaccine production technology transfer under the witness of State President Luong Cuong and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Vietnam’s traditional medicine took centre stage at the International Congress Biopharm Nonclinical Development, BioNCiD 2025, held on May 25-26 in the Cuban city of Varadero, amid growing global interest in sustainable healthcare solutions.
Under the agreement, VNVC and Sanofi will gradually implement technology transfers to enable domestic production of several key Sanofi vaccines that are widely used in Vietnam. In addition, Sanofi will support VNVC in training human resources and quality management in vaccine research and manufacturing.
Despite the ongoing global circulation and unpredictable developments of SARS-CoV-2, the World Health Organisation (WHO) hasn’t issued new warnings about COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health.
Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) 
