HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, February 6, confirmed five new Covid-19 cases, including four locally-infected cases in HCMC and Bac Ninh, Binh Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, and an imported case in Long An Province.
Specifically, the patient in Bac Ninh tested negative for Covid-19 on January 28 but positive on February 6. The patient is being quarantined and treated at the Bac Ninh General Hospital.
Meanwhile, HCMC confirmed a 27-year-old male patient, who resides in Vinh Phu Ward, Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province. He is an employee of the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and is being treated at the Cu Chi Field Hospital in HCMC.
HCMC’s neighboring province of Binh Duong reported another male Covid-19 patient, 21, who is younger brother of the patient in HCMC. He is now being quarantined and treated at the medical center of Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An City.
The case in Quang Ninh was a 22-year-old man residing in Dong Trieu Town’s An Sinh Commune. The patient, linked to the pandemic hotspot in Chi Linh City of Hai Duong Province, tested negative for the coronavirus on January 28 but positive on February 6.
He is being treated at the Vietnam-Sweden Uong Bi General Hospital in Quang Ninh Province.
The imported case is a 29-year-old man residing in Kim Lan Commune, Gia Lam District, Hanoi. On February 2, he flew from Japan to the Tan Son Nhat International Airport on the VJ7139 flight and had his sample taken for Covid-19 testing in Long An. The result came back positive on February 5. He is being quarantined and treated at the Long An General Hospital.
With five cases today, Vietnam saw the smallest daily number of Covid-19 cases over the past 11 days.
Regarding the two cases in HCMC and Binh Duong, Deputy Minister of Health, Do Xuan Tuyen, held an emergency meeting with authorities of HCMC and Binh Duong this afternoon, February 6.
The deputy minister asked HCMC and Binh Duong to step up Covid-19 test-and-trace work, including tracking those having close contact with these two cases since January 31 to prevent further spread of the coronavirus in community. All of the close contacts must be taken to quarantine centers, he added.
He also asked the Southern Airports Authority to report its efforts to fight the virus and what it has done in response to the suspected cases.
Nguyen Tri Dung, director of the HCMC Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDC), said that HCMC had identified 44 people having close contact with the airport staff and collected their samples for Covid-19 testing.
The staff began to feel fatigue on February 2 and developed Covid-19 symptoms the following day. Findings from authorities showed that he did not interact with passengers at the HCMC-based airport.
The Southern Airports Authority immeditely held an urgent meeting after discovering the case. It tracked those having close contact with him and sent information of 21 close contacts to HCDC. It also disinfected all places linked to the staff.
At the meeting, Nguyen Hong Chuong, deputy director of the Binh Duong Province Health Department, said that the airport staff mainly returned to his apartment in Binh Duong for rest and did not visit many places. Authorities found nine came into close contact with him in Binh Duong, including his two siblings living in the same apartment. CDC Binh Duong is ramping up test-and-trace work linked to his two siblings.
Phan Trong Lan, head of the HCMC Pasteur Institute, said that the institute will announce the coronavirus variant that the staff contracted tomorrow morning
