HCMC – A 14-year-old student in Quang Ngai Province’s Ly Son District has been infected with Covid-19 after coming into close contact with a person who returned from HCMC, becoming the first locally-infected patient on the island district during the latest coronavirus wave.
According to the local authorities, the 9th grader came into close contact with the person who returned from HCMC on October 16 and tested positive for the coronavirus after self-quarantining at home.
Aside from this student, 66 other people were in direct contact with the person from HCMC.
The island district then locked down two areas linked to the patient and is tracking all indirect contacts. Locals were asked to follow anti-Covid measures strictly. Schools also switched from in-person to online learning, while kindergartens were temporarily closed.
Further, the island district suggested the provincial government adjust the island’s anti-Covid regulations. According to the suggestion, Ly Son citizens returning home from HCMC and the southern provinces, where the coronavirus is still raging, should quarantine in the mainland before going to the island. Earlier, Ly Son citizens going home were only required to show certificates of a negative test result taken within the last 72 hours.
During the outbreak in August last year, Ly Son reported one Covid case, a local resident of the island. The case was linked to an infection cluster in the province’s Binh Son District.
Ly Son is a popular tourist island off the central province of Quang Ngai. Over the past two years, local tourism, the island’s spearhead economic sector, came to a standstill due to the pandemic. Since the fourth wave of infections hit Vietnam in late April, the island has closed its doors to tourists from other provinces and cities.
