HCMC – The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang will spend VND128 billion on large-scale Covid screening, which is set to take place in three phases on September 17, 19 and 21.
According to the provincial anti-Covid authority, the province will gather 475,000 samples in each phase.
All people in areas under lockdown, red zones and orange zones, which respectively pose extremely-high and high risk of transmission, in Ha Tien City and the districts of Chau Thanh, Hon Dat, Kien Luong and Giang Thanh will be subject to the screening test. Meanwhile, residents in green zones, also known as Covid safe zones, will take the Covid test every 5-7 days.
To prepare for the mass screening, the province has mobilized over 7,000 medical workers, police and military officers, volunteers and other forces. The cost of purchasing medical supplies to serve the testing drive comes from the provincial budget and other sources.
The province will collect samples from two or three family members instead of entire households for the massive Covid screening.
As of yesterday, September 15, Kien Giang had reported 3,568 Covid cases and 30 Covid deaths. The province had earlier launched two large-scale Covid testing campaigns, with the first time seeing 522,000 samples tested and 233 infections detected, and the second time seeing 660,000 samples tested and 460 cases detected.
The province reported its first two domestic cases on June 23, who are family members of two Covid patients returning from Malaysia. However, the Covid situation in the province has just turned complicated recently, reported VnExpress.
During the first half of this month, it recorded 2,025 cases, up 149% against the previous 14 days. The outbreak escalated in three days from September 5 to 7, with 345, 201 and 242 new cases reported, respectively.
Given a spike in the cases, the provincial government on September 13 was reprimanded by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for its slow response to the Covid situation.
