Sars cov 2

Two staff of the microbiology division have been infected with the virus, and one of them is the wife of an IT staff of the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases who had been confirmed as a COVID-19 case.

Hearing that her husband tested positive on June 12, the wife immediately made health declaration and underwent a COVID-19 test,with the result coming back positive.

The hospital moved to test all staff of the microbiology division and another positive test was recorded.

Earlier, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases documented the first COVID-19 case on June 12 and it has confirmed 53 cases during the past 24 hours.

The hospital has been locked down for contact tracing, quarantine and chemical disinfection.

HCM City, Vietnam’s third largest coronavirus hotspot, has logged nearly 800 positive cases since the virus resurged in late April.

The latest outbreak has been brought under control, according to the local administration. Several cases have however been detected in the community and the source of infection remains unknown.

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

Bac Giang remains one of the localities with the highest number of new COVID-19 cases each day, although most cases in the province have been recorded in isolation or in areas already under lockdown. Therefore, the goal of completely suppressing the pandemic by June 21 has been carefully deliberated based on practical analysis, as well as the province’s political determination.

According to Duong Van Thai, secretary of the Bac Giang provincial Party Committee, after over a month of making all-out efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the sources of infection in the locality have been localised and narrowed.

Currently, the two main sources of infection are at a number of hostels that feature a large number of workers in blockade areas in Viet Yen district, along with those recorded at a number of concentrated isolation areas in other districts. Although the number of F0 cases remains high, they have all been put under control in concentrated quarantine facilities and lockdown areas.

Thai therefore stressed that the main issue is regarding how to prevent the disease from spreading in quarantine and lockdown areas. It is believed that the solution is to reduce the density and number of people in each room and each house, whilst minimising all contact in isolation and blockade areas as part of efforts to prevent cross-infection, thereby completely stamping out the pandemic.

Experts have discovered that the strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading in Bac Giang is the Delta variant which was first recorded in India. It is notable for having a fast infection cycle, usually up to four days for a cycle, and is far more transmissible compared to other variants.

Due to this, provincial leaders of Bac Giang have said that in the event an outbreak occurs in an industrial park, then efforts must be stepped up to detect cases within the first three days.

From practical experience, after identifying four main sources of infection in industrial zones, such as a closed working environment, the use of air conditioners, canteens, communal toilets, and the shared use of buses, the authorities of Bac Giang said that areas where industrial zones are located must carefully prepare an “on-the-spot” plan to be ready to cope with the pandemic.

When an outbreak is initially reported in industrial zones and clusters, thousands of people must immediately be placed into quarantine to undergo COVID-19 testing and treatment, they emphasised.

Duong Van Thai, secretary of the Bac Giang provincial Party Committee, said Nui Hieu village in Viet Yen district remains a COVID-19 epicentre  due to the area being home to approximately 8,000 workers and nearly 1,000 locals.

“This area is identified as a location with a high risk of infection and the epicenter of the pandemic, so it has been put in lockdown very early to prevent sources of infection. June 11, Bac Giang moved all workers out of pandemic-hit areas for disinfection. As a good result, workers were be back to work in a safe environment four days later,” Thai said.

Through the support of the Ministry of Health and the local administration, hundreds of enterprises in Bac Giang industrial parks are now eligible to resume operations with the goal of ensuring both production along with safe pandemic prevention and control.