Samples are taken for people in a quarantine centre. Illustrative image.

According to the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, he arrived in the country on July 9 at Da Nang International Airport onboard a flight from Oman and was immediately quarantined upon arrival.

His samples were taken the same day and the result turned out as positive the next day. The 29-year-old patient is being treated at a quarantine centre at Dung Quat Industrial Zone in Quang Ngai province.

Among the confirmed cases, 230 were imported and quarantined immediately after arrival.

Up to 350 patients have recovered from the disease, and there are no deaths.

Of the active cases, two have tested negative for the virus once, and two others at least twice.

At present, 9,988 people having close contact with confirmed cases or coming from pandemic-hit areas are in quarantine, including six in hospitals, 9,509 in other quarantine sites, and 414 at home or accommodation facilities.

Vingroup offers array of ventilators to countries worldwide

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup presented 1,000 ventilators to Russia, Ukraine, and Singapore on July 10 in an effort to treat novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the three countries.

Through their embassies operating in the country, Vingroup was able to provide 500 Vsmart VFS-510 ventilators to Russia, in addition to 300 Vsmart VFS-510 ventilators to Ukraine during the scheme’s first stage.

The remaining 1,600 VFS-410 ventilators will be handed over in the second stage of the plan before August 30, following previous agreements reached between Vingroup and the two countries.

Along with the donations to Russia and Ukraine, the same day saw the conglomerate complete the donation of 200 Vsmart VFS-510 ventilators to the embassy of Singapore, with the aim of assisting Singaporean people to overcome challenges in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

The embassies have drawn up plans to ship the ventilators back to their countries so that they can be immediately put into use to meet the demand for COVID-19 treatment facilities as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase sharply each day.

Vsmart VFS-510 is the first “Made-in-Vietnam” ventilator model to be officially recognised by the Ministry of Health. They help meet medical facilities’ increasing demand for ventilators to treat critically ill patients.

6-year-old boy recovers from COVID-19

A six-year-old coronavirus patient was announced to fully recover from the SARS-CoV-2 virus on July 10, bringing the country’s total number of patients recovering from the virus to 348 out of 369 confirmed cases. 

The boy, who lives in Hanoi, returned to Noi Bai International Airport from Europe on June 6 together with his parents and twin brother. 

The four were isolated at an concentrated quarantine facility of a vocational school in Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem district.

After they were confirmed to carry the virus on June 19, they were all transferred to Hanoi’s Hospital of Tropical Diseases for medical surveillance and treatment.

They were said to respond well to the treatment, and all family members, except for the boy, were discharged from hospital in late June and early July.

During his stay at the hospital, the boy had not shown any clinical signs of virus symptoms. He had tested negative at least twice, meeting the criteria to be discharged from hospital.

The boy will be in quarantine at the hospital for another 14 days according to regulations before returning to his family.  

Currently, 21 COVID-19 patients are being treated at hospitals across the country.

Indonesia considers to reinstate restriction after rise in COVID-19 cases

Head of Indonesia’s COVID-19 task force Doni Monardo said on July 10 that tighter restrictions on home and public gatherings will be reinstated after a double-digit rise in coronavirus cases has been seen for a second straight day.

Indonesia’s Health Ministry said July 9 witnessed another highest single-day rise of coronavirus infections, with 2,657 new cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 70,736. The country has never reported more than 2,000 cases in a day before.

Monardo said as Indonesia braces to gradually reopen the economy, the government has announced that the country’ regions should meet two main conditions to be able to ease COVID-19 mobility restrictions and start welcoming the so-called “new normal”.

Regions should either have maintained zero COVID-19 cases or have witnessed a significant decrease in the number of infections in order to relax curbs and reopen businesses under health protocols, he added.

However, if the regions cannot properly maintain and suppress its COVID-19 cases, the policy will turn around quickly. The government has not ruled out the possibility of tightening social movements in the region again.

Responding to the surge in new cases, President Joko Widodo, on the sidelines of his visit to Central Kalimantan on July 9, said the country was back in a “red light” position. Therefore, he ordered the ministers and all local governments to be aware of the situation and to take action immediately.