COVID-19 outbreak at Vietnam-Germany Hospital basically under control
VOV.VN - A chain of virus transmission at Vietnam – Germany Friendship Hospital in Hanoi capital has been localized since first infections were detected several days ago, according to Truong Quang Viet, deputy director of the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
CDC staff took samples of approximately 4,000 patients, their relatives, caregivers, healthcare workers and people living around the hospital for the second time on October 3.
The Hanoi CDC will make recommendations regarding COVID-19 prevention and control measures as soon as the latest results of the second sample pooling are available, said Viet.
The centre’s coronavirus update on October 4 morning shows another five F0 cases have been detected, and they are all patients and their relatives inside the hospital.
Overall, 39 positive cases linked to the Vietnam-Germany Hospital outbreak have been documented, with 31 cases detected in Hanoi.
“We have quickly conducted epidemiological investigations, contact tracing and testing in an effort to localize and not to miss any F0, F1 or suspected cases,” said Viet.
Relevant agencies in collaboration with the hospital have transferred the patients’ relatives and caregivers to a concentrated isolation facility to limit cross transmission.
In addition, all localities have controlled lists of patients and their relatives returning home from the hospital since September 15. So far only three localities have reported eight cases linked to the hospital’s outbreak.
Dr. Nguyen Huy Nga, former head of the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health, pointed out that the emergence of a cluster of cases at the hospital is likely, but the epidemic is unlikely to break out as strongly as in Ho Chi Minh City or the southern provinces because the vaccination rate is increasing.
“Currently, there are loopholes in supervision at hospitals which are considered the last stronghold in the COVID-19 prevention and control work,” said Nga. “When we move to the state of living safely with the virus, there may be cases in the community, so we must strengthen COVID-19 measures.”
According to Nga, fully vaccinated people should strictly follow COVID-19 guidelines as they may still get virus infection. For hospitals, he said patients who stay long for treatment must be subject to tests frequently.
