HCMC – As many as 14 Vietnamese citizens flying on three flights from South Korea and a flight from the United States to Quang Nam Province have been found infected with the new coronavirus variant Omicron (B.1.1.529).
On December 31, a representative of the Quang Nam Department of Health said the department sent 15 samples of imported Covid cases in the province to the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute for genetic sequencing four days ago, the local media reported.
The 14 Omicron-infected cases have received two to three Covid-19 vaccine doses each. Of them, eight flew from the United States and three from South Korea to the Danang International Airport in Danang City on December 24, two returned from South Korea to the airport on December 23; and one arrived in Vietnam from South Korea through the airport on December 21.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said these cases were being quarantined.
A tracing team in Quang Nam has coordinated with the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airlines, the Danang International Airport and the Quang Nam Center for Disease Control to make a list of passengers on the same flights with these cases.
Deputy Director of the Quang Nam Department of Health Nguyen Van Van said the 14 Omicron-infected cases had been sent to a separate quarantine center, while other passengers had been sent to hotels requisitioned as paid quarantine facilities in Quang Nam’s Hoi An City.
During the quarantine period, Quang Nam’s medical workers have taken their samples for Covid-19 testing. If they test positive, their samples would be sent to the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute for genetic sequencing to learn if they are infected with Omicron.
Van said the 14 Omicron-infected cases showed no symptoms.
Thus, Vietnam has detected 15 Omicron-infected cases, with the first case being announced on December 28, who is a male passenger arriving in Vietnam from the UK through the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on December 19. He is being quarantined at Military Hospital 108 and poses no risk of transmitting the coronavirus to the community.
