Vietnam is experiencing the 4th wave of Covid with complicated developments and increasing number of locally-transmitted cases rapidly. Since April 27, the country has recorded 1,538 patients in 28 provinces and cities. This particular outbreak has had the highest number of patients in Vietnam so far.

The two strongest strains of SARS-CoV-2 sourced in India and the UK have been found in Vietnam. There is increasing evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transmitted through the air.

More than 37% of workers in a factory of Hosiden, a company based in Quang Chau industrial park of Bac Giang province, one of the country’s largest Covid-19 hot spots, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Duong Chi Nam, Deputy Director of the Health Environmental Management Department of the Ministry of Health, said that Covid spread quickly there because workers sat very close to each other, the room used air conditioning, the ceiling was very low, and the environment was closed.

Medical staff take samples for testing at Quang Chau industrial park, where Hosiden company is located.

In Hanoi, according to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC), a 40-year-old man was infected with Covid-19 after attending a 2-hour meeting with a Covid-19 patient, who sat 10m from him. The man tested positive 1.5 days after the meeting.

Another example: up to 11 passengers on a flight from Da Nang to Hanoi on April 29 were infected with Covid-19 by two Chinese experts although their seats were not near the Chinese experts.

Similarly, another flight from Da Nang to Hanoi on May 2 also recorded the same phenomenon. A couple transmitted Covid-19 to a man whose seat was far away from them.

In fact, the information that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through the air has been buzzing in the scientific world since last year. On May 8, the US Center for Disease Control confirmed this information and updated its guidance on how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted.

Accordingly, in addition to transmission by inhaling droplets, touching the infected area and then bringing it to the nose and mouth, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is also transmitted through microscopic particles suspended in the air, especially in a closed environment. That is, a person who is more than 2m away can still contract the virus.

The new guidance replaces the US CDC's original assumption that infection occurs by close contact, not by airborne transmission.

At the meeting of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control on May 10, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long emphasized that Vietnam is in a state of high alert due to the strong infectious ability of the virus variant.

“The British variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads 1.7 times faster, but the Indian variant spreads even faster that that strain, especially the ability to infect through the air," the Minister said.

Professor Nguyen Van Kinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Infectious Diseases Association, added that the world has now recorded more than 4,000 variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but only a few strains have an impact on the spread and increased virulence.

Prof. Kinh also confirmed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted through the air and droplets.

However, experts recommend that the 5K measures are still effective with new strains.

Thuy Hanh

New virus variants in Vietnam can spread within 1-2 days

Two virus strains with a strong transmissible ability have been detected in Vietnam. New Covid-19 outbreaks have been reported in many localities within very short time periods, sometimes within two days.