Health sector makes three changes to anti-COVID-19 strategy

At a teleconference on February 5, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long told the localities with community transmission of COVID-19 that due to the demand for widespread testing in northern Quang Ninh and Hai Duong provinces, where the latest outbreak began, the Ministry of Health now permits the combination of 10 - 15 samples collected from the same families in one test, instead of five samples like what has been done so far.

The minister also holds that children under five can be quarantined at home, under certain conditions, and local authorities must be responsible for strictly monitoring them, he noted.

Citing Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s order for not hampering economic activities in the COVID-19 fight, Long said the provinces and cities with sufficient testing capacity can transport goods to other localities, but anti-COVID-19 measures must be applied for both goods and drivers.

The official said the northwestern province of Dien Bien is the latest and 11th locality with coronavirus infections in the community, speaking highly of its efforts to trace contact with confirmed cases in just a short period of time.

He also asked Dien Bien to boost contact tracing, speed up testing, and promote home quarantine.

So far, Vietnam has seen 1,957 cases of COVID-19, including 1,068 locally-infected ones with 375 reported since January 27. As many as 1,465 patients have recovered while the number of related deaths are maintained at 35.