Tested positive 3 days before period

The Hanoitimes – Roughly 40% of total Covid-19 infections in Vietnam have come from foreign countries.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has demanded the re-testing of all foreign experts who have entered the country over the past time following the death of a Japanese Covid-19 patient whose transmission source remains unknown.

Vietnam tightens control over imported Covid-19 sources. Photo: Hoang Trieu/Nguoilaodong

The request was made after a Japanese citizen working for MITSUI & CO. VIETNAM LTD was found dead at a hotel in Hanoi and posthumously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on February 13.

“We have yet concluded foreign experts as the source of infection but obviously there are many issues we must be aware of,” Phuc has said in a statement.

Also in the request, Phuc asked local authorities to tighten over the enforcement of precautionary measures at lodging facilities and quarantine centers.

Vietnam has suspended the entry of all foreigners, including those with visa exemption certificates, since March 22, 2020, until further notice to limit the spread of Covid-19.

This policy has very limited exemptions for people on diplomatic, official duty, and special cases, including experts, business managers, foreign investors, and high-tech workers of businesses involved in important projects as determined by the government of Vietnam. Family reunification is not one of the exemptions.

All of them and their relatives are required to undergo quarantine upon arrival.

All immigrants need to show negative test result certificate and be put under medical surveillance for at least 28 days.

Currently, Vietnam halts all inbound international flights except for repatriation flights and those carrying the people who are eligible to enter the country.

On January 5, the government announced to suspend all flights from countries detecting the UK and South Africa coronavirus variants.

The Government of Vietnam currently provides an automatic extension of temporary stay through March 31, 2021 for foreigners who entered Vietnam or after March 1, 2020 with a visa exemption certificate, e-visa, or tourist visa and intend to depart Vietnam by March 31, 2021. Individuals in this qualifying group exit Vietnam during this period would not have to apply for an extension of stay.

The Hanoitimes – Danang decided to test its entire 1.1-million population for coronavirus as the risk of a wide spread increases.

Danang city, which is the biggest hot spot of the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam, has started pool testing for coronavirus in groups of three to five people in a family to speed up the tracing progress of Covid-19, VnExpress reported.

The media quoted Chairman of the Danang People’s Committee Huynh Duc Tho as saying on August 5 that professional agencies had discussed the pool testing method and concluded it is suitable in the current situation.

Health workers gather samples in residential areas on August 3. Photo: Nguyen Dong/VNE

According to Dr. Ton That Thanh, director of the Danang Center for Disease Control (CDC), pool testing consists of combining samples from three to five subjects into one sample and running the test on it. If the sample is positive, then the samples will be tested separately to determine which one is positive. This approach helps screen a large amount of people in a short period of time.

From July 25 to August 3, Danang collected 19,634 samples, of which 13,756 samples were negative for coronavirus and the results of the remainder are to be announced. The city is aiming to test 10,000 samples per day with the participation of the military and the police.

Danang’s anti-pandemic strategy during this period is testing, tracing, isolating and stamping out the pandemic. These tasks are being carried out drastically to curb the spread of the virus in the community.

Danang has decided to test its entire population of 1.1 million for coronavirus as the risk of a wider spread increases, the city’s authorities said on August 1.

Up to 207 new cases linked to this beach city have been reported across the country, taking total infections to 672, with eight deaths.

Most of the new cases are linked to hospitals in Danang where the first locally transmitted infection in more than three months was confirmed on July 25.

The Health Ministry said that up to 800,000 visitors have left Danang for other parts of the country since July 1, and more than 41,000 people have visited three infected hospitals in the city.

Vietnam has detected new coronavirus cases in other cities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with links to Danang.

The Hanoitimes – In the second Covid-19 phase in Vietnam, many people have been infected as the virus was transmitted from patients to their family members as well as health workers in Danang’s three hospitals.

The count of new Covid-19 cases will keep rising and the pandemic in Vietnam is forecast to reach its peak in the next ten days, VnExpress quoted Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son as saying late on August 5.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son. Photo: Gia Chinh/VNE

Son said the second phase of Covid-19 pandemic since late July is much more difficult to handle than the previous one. In the first phase, the major outbreak emerged at Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital, but only several employees of Truong Sinh Company, which provided catering services at the hospital, and some nurses were infected.

The second Covid-19 phase also started at healthcare centers, three hospitals in Danang. However, a great number of people have been infected as the virus was transmitted from patients to their family members as well as health workers in the three hospitals. Worse still, nearly dozen seriously ill patients have died and many are still in critical condition.

Besides patients who have been traced, there are some patients who are not related to the above-mentioned hospitals. Therefore, it’s more difficult to trace, zone and stamp out the pandemic than in the first phase, the deputy minister said.

“We are not allowed to be unguarded and drastic tracing and isolation efforts are underway,” Mr. Son warned.

He added that in the current period, besides using tracing tools to detect people who have made close contact with Covid-19 patients and isolate them, testing is key to find out positive cases in the community.

“For the epicenter in Danang, it is necessary to conduct testing and find people who are infected with coronavirus. Testing helps trace new and potential Covid-19 patients,” said the deputy minister.

He expressed his hope that all Vietnamese citizens will abide by the pandemic prevention rules and believe in the efforts of the health sector in controlling Covid-19.

Vietnam had gone 99 consecutive days without a single community transmission case of Covid-19 before a community infection in Danang was officially confirmed on July 25.

At the time of writing, the nation’s Covid-19 caseload has reached 747, of them ten have died while no deaths were recorded in the first infection wave, according to the Ministry of Health.