Director of Department of Information and Communications Nguyen Xuan Son
To date, although the COVID-19 pandemic has been highly complicated, many cases have appeared in the neighboring localities such as Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Tri,Thua Thien Hue has been safe. This shows that apart from the involvement of the political system and the support of the people from all social strata, the work of information and communication through the use of technology plays an important role in the pandemic prevention.
Since the first outbreak of COVID-19, the IOC has proven effective in the pandemic prevention and control by activating the development of many applications through the Hue-S and social network. How about this second outbreak, sir?
Since the second outbreak of the pandemic, under the guidance of the Government, based on the available applications and newly-developed applications, the Provincial Anti-Pandemic Steering Committee, Provincial People’s Committee, Department of Information and Communications have simultaneously activated these applications for the pandemic prevention and control.
The IOC staff is on duty 24 hours a day to receive information posted by the people to transfer to the relevant agencies for processing. Photo: THAI BINH
In your opinion, which application is the most effective and gets response from the people in the pandemic prevention?
Each activated application has its own strengths. In general, it helps the relevant agencies to best implement the pandemic prevention in the area. In addition to the applications which help the relevant agencies to trace and prevent the suspected subjects from entering the area, there are also the applications that help the local authorities to collect health status, control the people’s epidemiology.
To implement the Central Government’s guidance, the Department of Information and Communications organizes the propaganda, advocacy and implementation for the entire population to install Bluezone software (electronic masks) - the application seen as a breakthrough in the use of technology for pandemic prevention and control. The province-wide implementation rate has so far been below 15%, and we are continuing to propagate the installation among the people.
The IOC Center staff is on duty 24 hours a day to receive information posted by the people to the relevant agencies for processing.
For the province’s part, we activate the medical declaration system. However, it should be noted that one-time declaration is not enough, but it is necessary to update, declare regularly, especially when people have the health status change and new warnings from the relevant agencies.
Could you talk about the use of technology in the current information and propaganda?
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son said that currently, the Department is completing the leaflets in accordance with the method "Handbook of COVID-19 prevention and control". These handbooks are delivered to households and business households during the pandemic prevention.
The contents of this handbook instruct the people in medical declaration, Bluezone application update, access to official network information, phone number and address for reporting and the local authorities’ support.
We monitor the network information, inform the people of the official information channels to access and grasp the pandemic situation. Through the strong and comprehensive organization of communication channels from websites, electronic newspapers, Facebook, Zalo ..., we update the reliable and prompt information for the people to grasp.
Notably, we quickly provide the information on the pandemic situation, the roadmap of cases for the people to know and make the medical declaration on the provincial online system. All of this data is then transferred to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and helps the CDC to screen and localize the subjects to conduct epidemiological investigations.
How have the Hue-S tool and the hotline 19001075 been brought into play during the pandemic?
The Hue-S tool with a scene reflection platform informs the people of the new situation of pandemic. Developing the reception channel helps the people know whether the information they receive is exact or not.
Hue-S will confirm whether that content is right or wrong for the people to actively approach and exchange. This system has also received many positive responses which help the authorities at all levels to better prevent and control the pandemic.
The development of the hotline to support consultation, make the screening examination and quarantine, and COVID-19 treatment: 19001075 with a unified, 24-hour on-duty mechanism connected to all forces, localities and checkpoints. When calling, the people will be connected. The IOC also activates the center response process. The information is regularly updated, coordinated with the forces to provide timely information for the callers and those interested in. Up to now, the center has received more than 5,200 incoming calls. At the same time, it has channelized for the relevant agencies to make responses, support consultation, and conduct the screening examination and quarantine.
Thank you, sir.
By THAI BINH