Eight new COVID-19 cases reported in Da Nang

The new cases include five women, aged between 41 and 55, who had been taking care of family members being treated at Da Nang General Hospital.

The other new cases are a 19-year-old male patient at Da Nang Lung Disease Hospital, a 61-year-old female patient at Da Nang C Hospital and a 39-year-old female patient at Da Nang Transport Hospital.

Earlier, on Tuesday afternoon, seven other COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Da Nang and the neighbouring province of Quang Nam.

As of 6 am this morning, Vietnam had a total of 446 COVID-19 cases, of which 276 were imported and isolated immediately upon entry.

369 among them have recovered and no deaths have been recorded in the country so far.

Of the 77 remaining cases being treated at health facilities across the country, nine have tested negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 for the first time, and three have tested negative at least twice.

There are currently 16,248 people who have had close contact with COVID-19 patients or entered Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions in quarantine.

* On Tuesday afternoon, after receiving information about a group of five tourists from the northern provinces traveling to Da Nang and being trapped in the city due to the local social isolation, representatives from Nhan Dan Newspaper Office in Da Nang visited and offered them with support to stay safely in the city. Their flight was cancelled when Da Nang implemented the Prime Minister's directive on social isolation within 15 days, starting from 0:00 on July 28.

The Da Nang Department of Tourism said that as of 1 pm on July 28, there are about 314 tourists stranded in the city. The department has asked local hotels to provide them with maximum support during the quarantine period. Notably, some hotels are offering free accommodation and meals for the tourists for 14 days.

* Also on Tuesday afternoon, the People's Committee of Quang Nam Province issued a decision to suspend a series of activities across the whole province from 0:00 on July 29 to 0:00 on August 13 to strengthen the COVID-19 prevention and control work.

* The Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Thua Thien Hue Province has informed that there are 76 local cases related to the close contacts of Patients 416 and 418 in Da Nang. They have been sampled and isolated at home by health authorities.

* On July 28, the People's Committee of Quang Ngai Province requested all departments, functional agencies and related units to focus on tracing all close contacts of subjects who have been to hospitals in Da Nang and have been exposed to COVID-19 patients in Da Nang and Quang Ngai from July 15 to the present. In addition, Quang Ngai has decided to apply disease prevention and control measures across the whole province.

* On July 28, Politburo member and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan urged the city’s authorities and residents to stay alert against COVID-19 to promptly detect and isolate any new infections. He suggested the reduced use of non-essential services in the city, while urging for active communication campaigns to help citizens actively and voluntarily protect themselves and their families against the risk of disease transmission.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport decided to stop all inter-provincial passenger transport to Da Nang, except for special cases, from 15:00 on July 28, while vehicles traveling across Da Nang are not allowed to stop to pick up passengers in the city.

* According to a report from Ninh Binh Province’s Department of Health, there have been 18 local cases returning from Da Nang tested for SARS-CoV-2, including one with fatigue and cough who has been isolated at Nho Quan District General Hospital, while 15 others were negative and the rest are waiting for their test results.

* Bac Giang Province has 178 people in concentrated isolation, including 41 returning from Da Nang.

* In Vinh Phuc Province, there are 1,251 cases returning from Da Nang and most of them are practicing self-isolation and health monitoring at home.

* Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee has requested the launch of local working groups responsible for controlling migration and demographic changes in their localities, serving the COVID-19 prevention and control work.

* The health sector in Dak Lak Province has received and isolated five people who have returned from Da Nang, including one who had close contact with the 416th patient.

* On the evening of July 28, Nghe An Province’s health workers were present in An Hoa Commune, Quynh Luu District to organise the isolation of nine local residents and take samples of some others related to Patient No. 435 from Da Nang, who visited her family in An Hoa on July 19. Local authorities have counted nearly 7,000 people returning from Da Nang and Quang Ngai within the past 14 days. Of these, 12 had negative test results and are now isolated at local medical stations. The rest are isolated at home.

* On July 28, the Department of Health of Phu Yen Province reported that a suspected case of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in Xuan Quang 1 Commune, Dong Xuan District, had negative test result. The resident took a family member to Da Nang Oncology Hospital on July 16.

On the same day, Phu Yen authorities decided to temporarily close all tourist attractions in the province, starting from July 29, while building the most feasible options to set up quarantine stations at the entrances to Phu Yen.

The Department of Transport of Phu Yen has asked all local transport enterprises and bus stations to immediately stop the operation of the fixed inter-provincial passenger transport routes from Phu Yen to Da Nang and vice versa until August 11.

* As of 17:00 on July 28, Lai Chau Province has recorded 261 cases returning from Da Nang, including two suspected COVID-19 cases who had negative test results. All those returning from epidemic areas are under medical supervision at home and are in stable health.

* Hanoi Department of Transport has requested all local transport units, bus terminal operators and related organisations and individuals in the city to stop transportation activities to and from Da Nang within 15 days of July 28.

* On July 28, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) temporarily halted operation of all flights to and from Da Nang. Other domestic routes are still operating normally.

VNA will assist passengers who have tickets to/from Danang issued before July 25 and departing before or on August 31 to change flight dates or their schedule free of charge for another flight until October 31.