Many regulations based on killing, not living with Covid: business associations
Many regulations based on killing, not living with Covid: business associations
A draft guidance document on pandemic response still leans towards a "zero Covid" strategy instead of living safely with it, and this can inhibit economic development, businesses say.
In a joint statement sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh Saturday, eight business associations in Vietnam said the guidance does not take into account variations in the pandemic situation among different regions in the country and shows a lack of flexibility.
The eight signatories to the statement were: the Food Transparency Association; Food and Foodstuff Association of Ho Chi Minh City; Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Products; Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association; Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCMC; Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers; Vietnam Plastics Association; and the Japan Business Association in Vietnam.
The Health Ministry document says rules will be based on three main indicators of Covid-19 safety adaptation assessment and four levels of pandemic risk and corresponding response measures, including: low risk – new normal, medium risk, high risk and very high risk.
The associations said the assessment indicators were "too tight" for infected areas, including conducting too many mass tests even after people there have already got two vaccine doses.
The guidance stipulates that a locality needs to have more than 80 percent of people over 50 fully vaccinated to be considered a low-risk area.
This means it would take HCMC two to three months to be able to reopen and if all three indicators are considered, the city would be deemed a very high-risk area even now.
Such regulations will "seriously affect the economy while wasting vaccines and lead to unnecessary waste of resources," the business associations said.
Deliverymen wait for their turn to get the new coronavirus test in HCMC, September 20, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
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