Vietnam had no COVID-19 cases to report on June 5 morning, marking it 50 days in a row without new infections in the community, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Among the total 328 cases, 188 were imported and quarantined right upon arrival.

Currently, 8,143 people having close contact or entering pandemic-hit areas are quarantined at hospitals, concentrated quarantine establishments, and home.

The committee’s treatment subcommittee reported that 302 patients have been given all-clear, making up 92.1 percent of the total infections.

It added that 26 patients are being treated at health facilities, including seven who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once and seven twice or more./.

Committee reviews quarantining of foreign arrivals

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, chaired a meeting of the committee in Hanoi on June 4 to discuss the country’s ongoing pandemic response.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said the ministry has set up teams to inspect quarantine work in the provinces of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Quang Ngai, Bac Ninh, and Thai Nguyen, and the quarantining of flight crews at several hotels in Hanoi.

The ministry will shortly enhance its inspection over the quarantining of foreign experts elsewhere around the country.

More than 1,800 experts are now under quarantine and about 2,700 others will arrive in June and July.

The committee asked ministries, agencies, and localities to continue with quarantine measures in accordance with the ministry’s guidelines.

They also discussed the return of Vietnamese expats, investors, technical experts, highly-skilled workers, and corporate executives to the country.

Participants agreed with the ministry’s suggestion of offering exemption of certificates proving negative testing to SARS-CoV-2 for technicians, highly-skilled workers. and investors when they enter Vietnam.

They highlighted the need to perform compulsory 14-day quarantining and taking samples from foreign arrivals for testing.

Army units are responsible for monitoring the quarantining of Lao, Cambodian, and Chinese students at concentrated dormitories.

According to the Health Ministry, Vietnam had reported 328 COVID-19 infections as of June 4, 302 of whom had fully recovered, or 92 percent of the total.

The country also reported its 49th day in succession without community transmission./.

Malaysia records highest number of COVID-19 infections in a day

Malaysia recorded 277 new COVID-19 infections on June 4, a record since the pandemic broke out in the country in February.

However, the country entered the 13th day in a row without deaths which still total 142.

Among the new infections, 271 were foreigners.

As of noon the same day, Malaysia confirmed 8,274 cases, 6,559 of them fully recovered.

In the Philippines, the Department of Health announced a total of 20,382 cases after confirming additional 634 infections the same day.

There were 984 fatalities and 4,248 recovered patients.

Meanwhile, Indonesia reposted 585 new cases, raising the total to 28,818.

Twenty three more deaths brought the total to 1,721.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo also ordered relevant authorities to double COVID-19 tests as the country is gearing up for a new normal scenario.

The country has planned to reopen economic activities, particularly those in the areas where the virus infection has been obliterated or subdued, along with the implementation of a new normal scenario./.

Thailand tests COVID-19 vaccine on crab-eating macaques

A team of Thai COVID-19 vaccine researchers on June 3 revealed that it had passed its testing of the mRNA vaccine prototype onto guinea pigs and now it is being tested on crab-eating macaques.

If successful, human trials will start by early this October, according to Dr. Kiat Ruxrungtham, chair of Chulalongkorn University's Chula Vaccine Research Centre.

He added that if things go as planned, Thailand will have its own COVID-19 vaccine next year.

Afterwards, the vaccine will be provided to other ASEAN members including Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Pakistan that is not a member of the bloc.

As of June 4, Thailand had recorded 3,101 COVID-19 cases with 58 deaths.

Japan provides aid to Vietnam for COVID-19 fight

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has provided aid packages worth 80 million JPY (US$733.300) to support Việt Nam’s countermeasures against COVID-19.

The first part of the aid package worth 60 million JPY ($550,000) to Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City includes 2,000 copies of the Nosocomial Infection Control Manual, handed over to the Chợ Rẫy Hospital by JICA Vietnam Office on Wednesday.

Another package worth 20 million JPY ($183,300) will be given to six provincial Centres of Disease Control (CDCs) in Nam Định, Hà Giang, Bắc Giang, Vĩnh Phúc, Kiên Giang and Trà Vinh provinces.

With technical input from JICA experts, Chợ Rẫy Hospital’s Department of Infection Control developed the manual which is expected to improve infection control activities at the Chợ Rẫy Việt Nam-Japan Friendship Hospital and 21 provincial hospitals in the southern region, which are under Chợ Rẫy Hospital’s guidance and support.

Speaking at a meeting with a delegation of the JICA Vietnam Office at Chợ Rẫy Hospital on Wednesday, Nguyễn Tri Thức, director of Chợ Rẫy Hospital, said the hospital was one of the first hospitals in Việt Nam to receive support from JICA, beginning in 1969.

The hospital is working with JICA to build the Chợ Rẫy Việt Nam -Japan Friendship Hospital, Thức said.

JICA has helped Chợ Rẫy Hospital improve patient safety management and develop a multi-professional approach and infection control through the “Improvement of Hospital Management Competency” project that targets patient-oriented and high-quality medical services.

The project also improves hospital management capabilities.

In August 2019, to strengthen Chợ Rẫy’s nosocomial infection control capacity, the JICA project provided training on usage of personal protective equipment to doctors and nurses at the hospital.

Prior to the first confirmed patient with COVID-19 in January at Chợ Rẫy, JICA experts provided materials and conducted training sessions on nosocomial infection control at the hospital.

Since 2006, JICA has installed biosafety level-three laboratories that enable safe handling of highly hazardous pathogens at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and the Pasteur Institute in HCM City (PIHCMC).

JICA has also offered help to improve laboratory diagnoses of infectious pathogens. Based on this support, NIHE and PIHCMC have been able to test for COVID-19.

JICA experts are working with NIHE and PIHCMC to strengthen the examination capabilities and collaboration network of provincial CDCs in Việt Nam.

93% of Vietnamese COVID-19 patients make successful recovery from virus

An additional three more novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients were able to be discharged from hospital on June 5, seeing the number of fully recovered patients rise to 305, representing 93% of the total, with only 23 positive cases remaining in the country.

Each of the released cases were Vietnamese citizens who had recently been repatriated from Russia, a country hit hard by the COVID-19, with each individual being immediately placed into quarantine upon their arrival in the nation.

Indeed, the patients No. 293, No. 302, and No. 320 were all confirmed to have tested positive for the virus on May 18.

Following the recovery of each member of the group, the trio were successful discharged from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi after recording two consecutive negative tests for the COVID-19.

Each individual remains in stable health condition and is displaying no symptoms of the virus, such as a fever, a cough, or shortness of breath. 

Moreover, the group will now be placed into isolation in their hometowns in Nghe An province, Hai Phong city, and Nam Dinh province, respectively, in order to undergo a mandatory 14-day observation period to ensure there is no possibility of the virus reoccurring.

As of June 5, the nation has gone over 50 consecutive days without any locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, 305 people out of a total of 328 COVID-19 cases have since gone on to make a full recovery from the virus nationwide, equivalent to 93% of all patients, with no deaths reported as a result of the virus.