Hanoi speeds up PCR testing for returnees from Da Nang

At a meeting in the capital on August 10, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung also asked people returning from Da Nang – the hot spot of the current COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam – from July 8 to fill in the medical declaration form and those from July 15 to undergo PCR testing.

The official requested the municipal Department of Health to closely monitor hospitals and medical facilities to prevent the disease outbreak, adding that suspected cases must be tested immediately.

Director of the department Nguyen Khac Hien reported that so far 98,440 have returned from Da Nang to Hanoi, including over 75,810 returnees from July 15.

The city has carried out quick testing for more than 75,100 people and PCR testing – a real-time reserve transcription polymerase chain reaction – for 859 others, detecting one positive for the SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City started applying administrative fines from August 5 on those who do not wear face masks in public places, according to Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem.

The municipal Department of Health reported that as of August 10, the city confirmed 71 cases infected with COVID-19, with 62 recoveries.

* In Da Nang, the Da Nang Orthopaedic and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital and its surrounding areas reopened early on August 11 after 14 days of lockdown to help contain the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

This is the largest lockdown area in the central city. It includes nearly 3,000 residents in Thach Thang ward of Hai Chau district and about 400 medical workers, patients and their relatives. All of them have tested negative for the coronavirus that causes the disease.

The Da Nang Orthopaedic and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital is the second in Da Nang to have the lockdown lifted, following the Da Nang Hospital C.

At present, only Da Nang Hospital where the largest number of infection cases have been reported so far is in lockdown.

* The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said on August 10 that it will operate three flights to transport more than 700 tourists stranded in Da Nang to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

These flights are scheduled for August 12-13, carrying passengers who have been stuck in Da Nang due to social distancing measures.

All of them, together with crew members, will be under quarantine and medical monitoring in localities in line with regulations. The flights are the first domestic ones conducted by the national flag carrier to transport stranded tourists amidst COVID-19.

The low-cost airline Vietjet has also announced that it will cooperate with relevant authorities to operate four flights on August 13 and August 14 to bring passengers stranded in Da Nang back to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

They include two flights from Da Nang to Hanoi on August 13 departing at 09:00 and 16:00, and two from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City on August 14 departing at 09:00 and 16:00.

* On August 10, Vietnamese competent agencies, the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia and national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines coordinated with the Russian side to bring home more than 340 Vietnamese citizens.

The passengers included children under 18 years old, the elderly, sick people, labourers with expired visas and contracts, stranded tourists and students without accommodation due to school campus closures. The embassy sent officials to support the citizens at the airport.

All of the passengers underwent health checks and quarantine right upon their entry at Van Don airport in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh.

More than 300 Vietnamese citizens were also brought home from Canada and the Republic of Korea on August 9 and 10, on a flight of Vietnam Airlines.

After landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, all passengers and crew members were given health checks and quarantined in line with regulations.

Also on August 10, more than 260 Vietnamese citizens in the UAE were brought home in a flight arranged by relevant Vietnamese agencies, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UAE, Bamboo Airways, and UAE authorities.

Upon landing at Can Tho International Airport in the Mekong Delta, all on board received health checks and were sent to quarantine centres in line with regulations.

* On the same day, 20 doctors and 20 nurses of the central province of Thua Thien Hue headed to neighbouring Da Nang city to help their colleagues in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the time ahead, the Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital will send 150 volunteers to support a field hospital in Da Nang. Meanwhile, the Hue Central Hospital has mobilised experienced medical staff and modern equipment to treat severe COVID-19 patients transported from Da Nang and central Quang Nam province.

* Vietnam did not record any new infections of the coronavirus overnight, keeping the tally at 847, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said on August 11 morning.

Among all the infections, 318 are imported and were quarantined upon their arrival while 389 others are linked with the Da Nang outbreak that started on July 25.

As many as 399 patients or 47.1% of the total cases have recovered, but the country has also recorded 15 related deaths, with the latest departed is a 68-year-old man from the central province of Quang Nam.

The man was suffering from chronic renal failure, lung metastatic kidney cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The cause of death has been recorded as severe COVID-19 pneumonia, complications of severe respiratory failure, pulmonary artery occlusion in patients with kidney cancer, bladder and lung metastases, chronic renal failure and type 2 diabetes.

Among the remainders still under treatment, nine have tested negative once for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and 36 at least twice.

There are 165,983 people having close contact with confirmed cases or coming from pandemic-hit areas under quarantine at present.