COVID-19: Vietnam detects two community cases, two localities on full alert

One of the two patients, a 34-year-old woman of Hai Duong province, a gateway to Hanoi capital, tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus after having contact with a COVID-19 patient of the same province. The latter was confirmed by the Japanese authorities after she had arrived in Osaka.

The other patient, a 31-year-old man of Quang Ninh province, is a suspect case detected by Quang Ninh authorities on January 27.

The man, who worked for Van Don International Airport, showed flu-like symptoms of a fever, a dry cough, and a sore throat. He went to a local hospital for medical examination and found he had carried the virus.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who leads the National Steerting Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, convened an urgent meeting to deal with the new cases in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces.

The Ministry of Health said it would immediately dispatch a group of anti-epidemic specialists to Hai Duong to assists the locality in epidemiological investigation and surveillance.

The specialists from Bach Mai Hospital, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Public Health and Hanoi Medical University are due to arrive in Hai Duong on the morning of January 28.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen directly went to Hai Duong to direct preventive measures.

“As the lunar New Year holiday is drawing near, the implementation of epidemic preventive measures must be lifted to a higher level,” said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.

He requested Hai Duong to keep a close watch on this case of infection that was closely linked to the COVID-19 patient with a new variant in Japan.

For Quang Ninh province, he requested the local administration to speed up contact tracing and quarantine work. The Ministry of Health was required to provide assistance if necessary.