Covid-19 prevention and control at border gates: Tightening medical control for drivers and goods owners

– The Covid-19 epidemic is complicated and unpredictable. Meanwhile, at this time, the number of vehicles and people (drivers, goods owners) from many different localities to Lang Son’s border gates to import and export goods daily is very large. To ensure epidemic prevention and control at the border gate area, the Provincial People’s Committee has directed forces to tighten medical control for drivers and goods owners.

According to the report of the Management Board of Dong Dang – Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone, there is an average of 1,500 to 2,000 trucks transporting goods to the province’s border gates every day. Accordingly, the number of drivers and goods owners gathering at the border gate area is from 2,000 to 2,500 people/day.

Mr. Ly Kim Soi, Deputy Director of Department of Health, said that with the large concentration of people at the border gate during the time when the epidemic continues to be complicated, the medical control for drivers and goods owners this time has increased by more than one level compared to the 3^rd outbreak of the epidemic (early 2021). Accordingly, the health sector and the forces have organized classification according to each driver and goods owners to control.

Specifically, for more than 900 drivers of the specialized driving team at border gates, in addition to the fact that the drivers who are not allowed to leave the area arranged in the parking lot, every one week, the Provincial Center for Disease Control performs SARS-CoV-2 testing for this team. For drivers and goods owners from localities where there is the Covid-19 epidemic, authorities require quick testing for SARS-CoV-2 at the medical quarantine checkpoint, when negative results are obtained, they are allowed to enter the border gate area.

Medical staff checked the driver’s body temperature at the medical quarantine checkpoint before entering the parking lot at Huu Nghi International Border Gate

Mr. Dang Viet Truong, Director of the International Center for Health Quarantine, said that forces at the checkpoints at the border gate in the past time have strictly controlled drivers and goods owners when entering and exiting the gate area. In previous outbreaks of the epidemic, drivers and goods owners entered the parking lot in the border gate area before declaring their epidemiological history, but during this outbreak of the epidemic, drivers and goods owners have to check and declare at the quarantine checkpoint outside the border gate area, only when meeting medical requirements, they are allowed to bring cargo trucks into the parking lot.

Along with that, the Center for Border Gate Management coordinated with border guards at border gates to synchronously deploy measures and strictly manage drivers and goods owners right at the parking lots. Accordingly, functional forces separate groups of drivers and goods owners from localities where there is the Covid-19 epidemic to avoid possible infection.

Mr. Nong Hai Thang, Director of the Center for Border Gate Management said that  the number of drivers and goods owners entering the parking lot at border gates this time is very large, many people have to stay in the parking lot overnight. because the customs clearance of goods has not been done within the day, so the centre particularly pays attention to the management. Accordingly, parking lot businesses have proactively arranged eating, sleeping and resting areas for drivers (in the parking lot area), in which the rest areas of drivers and goods owners are separated by target groups such as food and accommodation areas of specialized driver team, drivers and good owners from epidemic localities and areas for people from localities where there is no epidemic. At the same time, officials of the Border Gate Management Center, border guards and owners of parking lot businesses regularly check and propagate drivers and goods owners not to gather in large groups in the border gate area, strictly implement the wearing of facial masks and so on.

It is forecasted that in the coming days, the number of people and vehicles transporting exported goods to the province’s border gates will increase, while drivers and good owners will be from many different localities, at the same time, the movement of freight trucks is also very complicated. Therefore, the strict implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures at the border gate area will contribute to preventing the risk of infection that may occur in the province’s border gate area​​.

In order to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic, the Provincial People’s Committee has directed sectors and forces to strengthen propaganda and advise drivers and goods owners from other localities after  goods customs clearance to return to their localities, not staying in the province.