The information was stated by Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong at the Covid-19 Prevention Steering Committee meeting on the morning of June 1, with the participation of Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.

According to Mr. Phong, 3 infection chains related to the outbreak in Ha Nam, the company in District 3 and the banh canh shop in District 3 are basically controlled.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong at the meeting on the morning of June 1.

Ho Chi Minh City is focusing on taking large-scale testing samples in the city, including taking samples of all election teams with members of the Renaissance Missionary Church group;

Identifying industrial parks and export processing zones with large concentrations of people at high risk of infection, the head of the city government said he would assign localities to organize businesses to sign a commitment to strictly implement the set of prevention criteria.

Regarding vaccines, Mr. Phong said the city has 7.2 million people over 18 years old, the demand for vaccination is huge but the supply is not enough.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh City is discussing implementing a second support package for people affected by Covid-19.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of National Defense Vo Minh Luong said that to ensure the dual goal of `fighting the epidemic and developing the economy`, industrial parks play an important role.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Binh, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that related to the chain of infection of the Renaissance Missionary Church, Ho Chi Minh City recorded 200 cases of infection.

The city expanded testing of more than 181,000 people throughout the neighborhood, election groups and wards with many infected cases.

Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh reported at the meeting.

Mr. Vu Chien Thang, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, said that it is necessary to define `Revival Missionary Church` as an activity group, not a church.

Mr. Thang proposed that the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City direct the suspension of the operation of this group location to investigate the case. Depending on the results of the investigation, there will be a proposal for higher handling, possibly withdrawing the operating license.

Currently, the whole country has over 5,500 religious activity groups similar to the `Revival Missionary Church`, mainly in remote areas, licensed and managed by commune-level authorities.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said that the infection from the Renaissance Mission group is a profound lesson in anti-epidemic work.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that prosecuting a case related to the Renaissance Mission group is `prosecuting a case of spreading an epidemic, not prosecuting a religion`.

The Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged Ho Chi Minh City’s recent drastic moves to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

Mr. Binh noted that Ho Chi Minh City is expanding testing throughout the city but needs to have a focus to achieve the best results.

Manh Tung