COVID-19: Ha Nam deploys urgent measures as five local infections announced

Relevant agencies imposed a lockdown on Quan Nhan village of Dao Ly commune, Ly Nhan district, where a local man tested positive on April 28.

One day later, another four people who are the patient’s relatives were diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

All of them live in the same house, according to the Ha Nam Centre for Disease Control.

Local authorities have so far identified 32 people (F1) who had come into close contact with the patient, and 210 others (F2) who had indirectly contacted the patient.  

F1 cases were transferred to concentrated quarantine facilities, while F2 cases were required to self-isolate at home.

Epidemiological investigations are underway, said a CDC Ha Nam representative.

The patient, a 28-year-old man returning from Japan, tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus after completing a 14-day quarantine period according to COVID-19 rules.

While staying in quarantine in Da Nang, the patient had tested negative three times, meeting the criteria for self-quarantining at home. 

However, two days after leaving the Da Nang quarantine facility for home, the man showed virus-like symptoms such as a cough and a sore throat.

The Ha Nam Centre for Disease Control (CDC) took his nasal swab for testing, with the results coming back positive.

The CDC Ha Nam took another sample for testing and at the same time sent it to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation.

In other developments:

• Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long travelled to Ha Nam province on April 29 to chair an urgent meeting with local healthcare services
• The Ministry of Health has issued an urgent telegram, looking for passengers flying together with the Ha Nam case from Japan to Da Nang on April 7.
• Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City reported an F1 case each closely ties to the Ha Nam case.