Under the spirit of “fighting the pandemic like fighting enemies,” “considering pandemic combat as a combat mission of the Military in peacetime,” Da Nang’s Municipal Military Party Committee (MMPC) and Municipal Military Command (MMC) have been proactively, synchronously, drastically adopting various measures for COVID-19 prevention and control, which has been highly appreciated by local party committees, authorities, and citizens.

As a socio-economic and trade centre of the Central Coast - Central Highlands Region, Da Nang is not only a dynamically growing city, but also holds a position of strategic importance to defence and security of Military Region 5 and the whole country. However, COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the 4th wave with its extremely rapid, widespread, complex developments and a large number of community cases has profoundly negatively impacted on the city’s economy and the people’s health and life. Performing their function as “an army ready for work,” the municipal armed forces of Da Nang have regarded the participation in pandemic prevention and control as their sentiment and “combat mission in peacetime” under the spirit of “being ready to go anywhere and do anything when the people need.”

Sr. Col. Doan Duy Tan (in the middle) inspecting and encouraging forces in COVID-19 prevention and control

To guarantee the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention and control, the MMPC has issued a Resolution on leadership over this work. Grounded on that Resolution, the MMC has promulgated directives, plans, documents, and telegrams to direct and instruct localities and units to implement military-defence task in tandem with COVID-19 prevention and control. Doing so serves as a determinant to the city’s performance of “double tasks” as those are new, unprecedented issues. Meanwhile, rescuing and helping the people must be a top priority; therefore, there should be close, timely leadership and direction from party committees and commands at all levels. Under that spirit, a programme on screening and vaccinating cadres and soldiers, with priority given to staff members on the front line against COVID-19 and at checkpoints and quarantine zones has been quickly, synchronously, effectively implemented, thus preventing the pandemic from spreading into forces and units and enabling the municipal armed forces to successfully fulfil all assigned missions. Bringing into play those good results, all-level party committees and commands shall continue focusing their leadership and direction on drastically taking measures to raise the quality of training and combat readiness and effectively keep the pandemic under control simultaneously. Due attention should be paid to directing the military medical force to conduct rapid tests in order to opportunely detect suspected cases and adopt remedial measures under higher echelons’ guidance. It is necessary to deploy more personnel to respond to various degrees of COVID-19 and closely cooperate with localities in grasping and monitoring the pandemic’s developments to work towards countermeasures.

During the 4th wave of COVID-19, the MMC has proactively advised the city’s Party Committee, People’s Committee, and Steering Board on COVID-19 prevention and control to release documents on combating the pandemic in accordance with each locality. It has collaborated with the city’s departments, committees, and sectors in developing and drastically implementing pandemic prevention and control plans under the guidelines set by the Government, the Ministry of National Defence, and the Military Region. It has directed its offices and units to acquire and reserve medical materials (sanitiser and face masks) for forces and in response to higher degrees of COVID-19, particularly for 2 quarantine zones under its management and another one managed by the city. At the same time, preparations have been carefully made to ensure citizens’ accommodations and material and mental life within the two quarantine zones under the MMC’s management. Emphasis has been placed on transporting citizens who had finished quarantine back to their localities absolutely safely.

Additionally, under Military Region 5 Command’s direction, the MMC has cooperated with competent offices in establishing a field hospital for treating minor COVID-19 cases with about 600 beds (it could reach the maximum extent of 1,000 beds) to readily respond to the pandemic’s more serious developments. To promote those recorded results, in the upcoming time, in addition to proactively preparing facilities and projects for pandemic prevention and control and consolidating quarantine zones, the MMC will continue conducting surveys into the establishment of more field hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients on request. It will actively give advice to the city’s party committees and authorities on establishing community-based medical teams and implementing narrow isolation measures, while organising forces to deal with each degree of COVID-19 as the basis for flexibly, safely, effectively adapting to the pandemic.

Furthermore, the MMC will continue directing its offices and units to enhance the work of propagation and education to raise troops’ awareness and responsibility for strictly adhering to measures of pandemic prevention and control, particularly the “5K + vaccine” message delivered by the Ministry of Health. All cadres and soldiers shall have their body temperature checked on a daily basis, wear face masks, clean their hands by sanitiser, and keep a compulsory distance from one another during study and work. The MMC will proactively work with local medical offices to grasp the pandemic’s developments, further monitor troops and citizens’ health, and tighten measures for preventing, detecting, isolating, localising, and squelching infections.

The MMC will keep directing all-level rapporteurs to heighten their responsibility and play a vanguard role on the propagation front, while bringing into play the effectiveness of the existing means and facilities, employing and diversifying forms and methods of propagation, such as internal radio system, panel, and mobile propagation, and encouraging the people to remain vigilance against the pandemic’s complex developments. Moreover, leaderships and commands at all levels shall step up measures to manage and control areas, encourage forces to take part in pandemic prevention and control, and cooperate with press agencies in opportunely disseminating positive information and creative, effective models of COVID-19 combat, proactively orientating public opinion, and fighting against wrong, distorted information about COVID-19 prevention and control in cyberspace. Doing so will contribute to cementing local party committees, authorities, and citizens’ faith in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

A “zero dong booth” organised by the municipal armed forces to help citizens in pandemic-hit areas

In response to the special emulation movement entitled “the Military joins hands with the whole nation to prevent, fight, and win against COVID-19 pandemic,” launched by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence, the MMC has mobilised resources from its cadres and soldiers to present the people with 1,511 gifts, 332.5 million VND, and more than 1.2 tons of vegetables planted by its units, via typical models, such as “the municipal armed forces join hands with the people to prevent and combat COVID-19 pandemic,” “zero dong booth,” and “zero dong vegetable market.” It has cooperated with the Municipal Youth Union Committee and the Municipal Youth Federation in organising the programme titled “seven days of affection - joining hands to overcome the pandemic” and encouraging the participation of units, enterprises, organisations, and individuals to create positive spillover effects within society, contribute to reducing the people’s burden, and provide an incentive for the people to surmount difficulties caused by the pandemic. In response to a dearth of blood within the city’s hospitals and medical centres, the MMC has encouraged its cadres and soldiers to participate in voluntary blood donation with 187 blood units. In 2021, the municipal armed forces deployed nearly 6,000 cadres and soldiers to cooperate with other forces in 368 checkpoints and hundreds of lockdown and quarantine zones. Thousands of military staff members and militiamen transported hundreds of tons of food to citizens within lockdown areas and field hospitals, while packing more than 1,600 tons of rice allocated by the Government to the people. Besides, the municipal armed forces received, transported, and quarantined nearly 8,000 Vietnamese citizens from other countries for COVID-19 prevention and control.

A part from pandemic prevention and control, recently, the city of Da Nang has been severely hit by natural disasters. Thus, the MMC has opportunely collaborated with other forces in helping localities to prevent and combat storms and floods. It has deployed over 300 military staff members and militiamen to assist the people in moving more than 700 ships to the coast and fastening over 1,500 schools and houses as well as to safely evacuate citizens from storm-hit areas. Promoting those achievements and the national tradition of compassion, the municipal armed forces will continue consolidating their close-knit bond with the people, mobilising resources from offices, units, cadres, and soldiers, and cooperating with localities, businesses, and benefactors in effectively carrying out the work of social security and opportunely providing support for the people affected by natural disasters and epidemics. They will proactively give advice to local party committees and authorities and play a core role in organising action movements during the fight against COVID-19 to bolster the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period.

It is predicted that COVID-19 pandemic will continue to be complex with its new, dangerous variants and negatively impact on our economy and social life. Therefore, the municipal armed forces shall continue grasping and seriously executing higher echelons’ directives and resolutions on COVID-19 prevention and control, particularly the Government’s Resolution 128/NQ-CP, dated October 11th, 2021 promulgating temporary regulations on “safe, flexible adaptation to and effective control over COVID-19 pandemic,” Dispatch 7009/UBND-KGVX, dated October 15th, 2021 by the Municipal People’s Committee on temporarily adopting several measures to “safely, flexibly adapt to and effectively control COVID-19 pandemic,” and Guidance 2854/HD-BCĐ, dated October 28th, 2021 by Military Region 5’s Steering Board on COVID-19 prevention and control following the Government’s Resolution 128/NQ-CP.

Considering pandemic prevention and control as a “combat mission in peacetime,” the municipal armed forces will keep heightening a sense of responsibility and standing shoulder to shoulder with local party committees, authorities, and citizens in the fight against the pandemic to bring peace and happiness to the people and facilitate the city’s development.

Sr. Col. DOAN DUY TAN

Member of the Municipal Party Committee

Permanent Deputy Secretary of the MMPC

Commissar of the MMC