The Deputy PM made the request while chairing an online meeting held in Hanoi between the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Communication and Education, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Health, the Vietnam Journalists’ Association.
Deputy PM Dam, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, conveyed his thanks to press agencies and journalists for actively working with functional agencies to report on the situation, thus keeping the public updated on the development of the disease.
He stressed that, through their coverage, press agencies must create trust and consensus among the people in following the instructions and solutions of functional agencies that can help reduce health risks and save lives.
He added that the press must dispel disinformation about the pandemic which has been swirling on social media and causing panic among the society, while also providing the public with evidence-based information to help people place trust in medical workers and remain optimistic amid the outbreak.
According to Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, COVID-19 is a typical disease in a developed world with rapid escalation, having infected more than 1.5 million people and claimed the lives of dozens of thousands of people.
In Vietnam, the fight against the epidemic has united the entire Party, people and army under the spirit of “fighting the pandemic is like fighting the enemy”. Prompt actions have been taken to prevent the spread, detect infections, quarantine infected and suspected cases, seal off affected areas and suppress the outbreak.
