Hanoi accelerates tech solutions to stamp out Covid-19

The application of digital technologies has become the most effective solution for the capital city in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as it supports case investigation and contact tracing in the shortest time.

Medical staff receives calls from people via the emergency line 1022. Photos: The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications

In the latest move, the city’s Covid-19 health declaration application has communicated with the national population database so those making online health declarations could pass through quarantine checkpoints with ease.  

The city police will launch the digital technology app at 23 Covid-19 prevention checkpoints at the main gateways of the capital city that will help people on duty control large gatherings of people waiting for the health status to be verified.

The app will also help the city’s police reduce the workload of checking the travelers' documents at the checkpoints during the social distancing period.

Hanoian travelers can declare their medical status on the website suckhoe.dancuquocgia.gov.vn.

The declared information will be checked and compared with the person’s available data on the National Population Database. If the declaration is successful, the person will get a QR Code, sent to their mobile phone or computer that will be valid to pass quarantine checkpoints within 72 hours.

This ensures the exactness of medical declarations and also helps the grassroots-level police manage people’s movements amid the complicated development of the pandemic, according to the Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order under the Ministry of Public Security.

Applying tech solutions 

The capital city has been urging people to apply technological solutions including electronic medical declaration tokhaiyte and Bluezone contact-tracing apps.

As of August 26, the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications has received more than five million medical declarations on the software system and found every day hundreds of cases that declared symptoms of cough, fever, and shortness of breath.

Then, the department reported promptly information to the health sector in districts and towns to conduct testing, screening, sampling, and isolating the patient from the community, preventing the risk of disease spreading.

Starting from August 19, the municipal department has operated the emergency line 1022, connecting to the 115 Emergency Center, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hanoi, the Companion Physicians Network, and the Department of Information and Communications to receive reports on violations of Covid-19 prevention and control regulations.

After only eight days of operation from August 19 to 26, the Department of Information and Communications received a total of 2,945 calls and messages, in which 2,105 reports were handled, 699 others were forwarded to districts’ authorities to solve.

Nguyen Thanh Liem, Director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications

Nguyen Thanh Liem, Director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications said: "In parallel with the implementation of  tech solutions, the department has also strengthened the handling of false and misleading information about the Covid-19 on the media and social networks, thereby creating solid "shield" in the fight against the pandemic."

The department removed 219 video clips with harmful content on YouTube. The inspectors of the department also issued fines against 68 organizations and individuals for a total amount of over VND671 million (US$29,445).

The department has strongly applied information technology, going on social networking platforms and websites for the communication and dissemination of information about the city.

From April 27 to late August, a total of 156 documents, 127 videos, 930 news, 62 articles, 1,781 photos, and 115 questions about the application of Directive 17 on the imposition of social distancing measures and other issues related to Covid-19 were published on the Department’s portal.