Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chairs a meeting between the Government and localities on COVID-19.

According to Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Da Nang City, which has recorded 27 infection cases over the past few days, is able to conduct tests on 1,000 to 2,000 samples per day. With the assistance of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the city targets 5,000 to 7,000 tests a day.

At a Government meeting on COVID-19 on Wednesday, Long said the ministry has mobilised all resources to contain the pandemic in the city.

“The containment of the virus in Da Nang is key to the control of infection in the community. The city is in a race against time to take measures,” he said.

The Ministry of Health has sent a team from Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital to help Da Nang Hospital and establish a testing lab at the Da Nang Lung Hospital.

The HCM City’s Pasteur Institute has assisted the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Da Nang to set up a testing lab at Hospital 199 of the Ministry of Public Security.

The Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre is expected to establish a mobile lab in Da Nang on July 30.

The Hanoi Medical University has offered assistance to the Quang Nam Central General Hospital to improve testing capacity.

The Ministry of Health has proposed transferring COVID-19 patients in Da Nang to Hue Central Hospital.

PM Phuc agreed on the proposal to transfer COVID-19 patients in Da Nang who suffer from various diseases to central-level, military medical facilities and centres in Hue and Quang Nam for treatment.

Vigilance

The Cabinet leader asked the public to uphold their vigilance as the pandemic is evolving compared to previous periods. The infection source has not yet been found.

According to the Ministry of Health, the infection cases in Da Nang not only link to three hospitals but may connect with neighbouring areas. Three cases in Hai Chau and Son Tra districts have not had their infection sources found in spite of careful inspections.

Based on practical situations, local authorities are authorised to issue social distancing orders following Prime Minister’s directives No 16 and 19, said PM Phuc.

He asked local authorities to prepare responsive plans like in the previous period and resume dissemination campaigns on COVID-19 prevention, including measures such as wearing face masks in crowded places and on public transport, washing hands and sanitising their houses and offices.

PM Phuc asked localities including Da Nang, Quang Nam, HCM City, Thua Thien-Hue, Hanoi and other big cities, especially coastal tourism cities, to take measures to prevent community transmission.

He ordered bans on big festivals and crowds gathering at places which recorded infection cases and asked the Ministry of Education and Training to ensure safety while organising the national high school exam next month.

World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Vietnam Kidong Park has said the occurrence of new COVID-19 cases in Vietnam’s central city of Da Nang is not alarming, as the virulence of this strain is no different from that in other countries.

Park said the coronavirus recently detected in Da Nang is quite similar to the SARS-CoV-2 that caused the acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) in other nations in July.

Despite the mutations that appear in this virus, Park said there is no reason for greater concern. According to available data, the potential for transmission and the virulence of this virus have not changed.  VNS

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