HCMC – The HCMC Center for Disease Control (HCDC) this afternoon, May 29, reported 22 new suspected Covid-19 cases linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission in Go Vap District, including 18 people under quarantine and four being found after visiting hospitals.
Thus, the two new outbreaks in the city have had 90 suspected cases, including 85 cases related to the Revival Ekklesia Mission and five linked to a couple having medical checkups at Hoan My Sai Gon Hospital.
Today, the Go Vap government locked down part of Alley 80/95 of Duong Quang Ham Street, where a suspected case is living. This person had close contact with a member of the Revival Ekklesia Mission.
In related news, an 83-year-old man in District 12’s Thanh Loc Ward has tested positive for Covid-19 once after he visited Gia Dinh Hospital for a medical checkup, according to the HCMC Department of Health.
He was taken to the hospital on May 28 as he suffered a fever and meningitis. His sample was also sent to the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the HCMC Center for Disease Control for retesting.
It is unknown if he is linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission although he is living in the same ward with two other Covid-19 patients, who are members of the religious sect.
Moreover, the Binh Thanh District Hospital has stopped receiving new patients as three people testing positive for Covid-19 once visited the hospital on May 28.
Specifically, the three came to the hospital for medical checkups as they showed symptoms of Covid-19.
The hospital immediately quarantined them and sent their samples to the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases for Covid-19 testing and the result was positive.
They are linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission in Go Vap District.
At a meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with localities today, HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said the city had detected two cases in large industrial parks, including Tan Binh and Tay Bac Cu Chi, so the risk of the pandemic spread in the city was high.
Regarding the infection sources, Phong said 55% of the city’s patients were infected with the virus through religious activities, 25% in workplaces, 15% in families and 5% from other relations.
Thus, the risk of the disease transmission in workplaces is high, which is a big concern of the city.
In addition, the city has 7.2 million of people aged over 18 but only 1.6 million of them are in the Ministry of Health’s priority list for the Covid-19 vaccination.
Therefore, the city proposed the Government and the Ministry of Health support it in seeking Covid-19 vaccines.
The city will tighten its control over religious organizations and require industrial parks and enterprises to ask their employees to regularly make health declarations.
The Ministry of Health has also reported 56 new Covid-19 cases, including 49 domestic cases and seven imported cases.
Among the imported cases, six were found in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and one in Dong Nai Province.
Meanwhile, Bac Giang continued to making up the majority of new locally-infected cases, at 49. In addition, one each was reported in Tay Ninh, Dien Bien and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District.
