Members of Women’s Union in Tan Ninh Commune in Long An Province’s Tan Thach District learn about novel coronavirus. — VNA/VNS Photo Duc Hanh

A training exercise on how to deal with patients who are suspected of infection was held on Tuesday in Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Bui Khac Hung, director of Krong Pak District’s Health Centre, said the premise of the drill was how to detect a patient showing infection symptoms and determine if they had come into contact with people returning from virus-stricken areas.

The exercise providing necessary knowledge for health workers in the province while enhancing the response capacity for the health sector in case of outbreak, he said.

The province has reported 15 people with suspected COVID-19 infection as of Tuesday. Twelve of them tested negative and have been discharged.

In Kien Giang Province, Nguyen Van Thanh, vice rector of Kien Giang University, said all buildings, student dormitory, library and departments have been disinfected ahead of students returning.

Nearly 4,100 students are studying in the university including 150 from Laos and Cambodia. 500 are living at the dormitory.

The university has organised training classes to provide knowledge related to COVID-19 to all students and also distributed 4,500 free face masks.

In the central province of Quang Nam, two people with suspected COVID-19 infections have tested negative, said Nguyen Van Hai, director of the provincial Health Department.

Despite being free of suspected cases, the province will continue monitoring and managing people entering the province.

Measures for combatting and preventing COVID-19 have been adopted at other provinces and cities including Bac Giang, Dien Bien, Lam Dong and HCM City.

Three facilities have been set up for quarantine in the northern province of Bac Giang. The authorities have quarantined 27 people including 10 Chinese nationals by Monday.

As many as 48 people who came from or transit via virus-hit areas of China were put under 14-day quarantine in Lam Dong Province.

Similar actions are underway in the northern province of Dien Bien which borders China and where a lot of trade activities take place.

“Muong Nhe District’s health centre has set up a steering committee and joint task to cope with the disease. Health equipment and human resources are ready to treat patients in case an outbreak occurs,” said Nguyen Danh, deputy director of Muong Nhe District’s health centre.

The provincial agencies also tightened monitoring anybody entering the province and the country.

In HCM City, Li Ding, a Chinese national, has been discharged from Cho Ray Hospital on Wednesday, becoming the seventh patients to be successfully treated in Vietnam.

Li Ding and his son, Li Zichao, were the first people infected with the virus in the country.

His son was discharged on February 4. But Ding was treated for longer as he has different ailments including diabetes, lung cancer and hypertension.

According to HCM City Centre for Disease Control, the city still has one suspected case and more than 2,580 people quarantined. Of these, 2,521 people are being monitored at home.

Supervision tighten

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has requested ministries, agencies and localities to tighten supervision to stamp out any outbreak and prevent transmission.

Speaking at a meeting held in Hanoi on Wednesday, Dam said although the number of cases in Vietnam remained small and there were positive signs in treatment, the disease was expected to develop and there was high risk of outbreak.

He asked forces to step up communication work to raise awareness of quarantined people about their responsibilities towards families and society. The deputy PM also instructed ministries and agencies to provide support in human resources and medical equipment to Vinh Phuc Province which has the most infection cases so far.

Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said in accordance with research data, the fatalities rate was 2-3 per cent, the epidemic was more contagious than severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and other coronavirus with infection rate of between 2.5 and 4.

He emphasised the need to prevent disease transmission by improving quarantine work and stamping out disease on the spot. 

Vinh Phuc puts great efforts to cope with Covid-19

The northern province of Vinh Phuc house the majority of Vietnamese people infected with the deadly acute respiratory disease COVID-19, putting local authorities at the forefront of fighting the outbreak.

A medical worker check temperature of a man who is being quarantined at the Binh Xuyen Medical Station in Vinh Phuc Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

By Wednesday, a total of 15 people in Vietnam had tested positive to the virus, and 10 of them are in Vinh Phuc Province, according to the Ministry of Health. Eight of them are in Binh Xuyen District, one in Tam Duong District and another in Tam Dao District.

More than 300 people are under supervision and 63 are quarantined, according to the provincial steering committee for COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.

The provincial Party Standing Committee on Wednesday had a conference in which participants discussed different ways to allocate more medicine, equipment and places for quarantine and treatment.

Vice Chairman of Vinh Phuc People’s Committee Vu Viet Van on Tuesday also sent a letter guiding instruction on epidemic prevention and control to concerned organisations.

The provincial People’s Committee asked chairmen of districts' people’s committees to focus on inspection and quarantine.

The provincial department of health should give guidance to lower-level organisations.

Checking should be widened to find more people who need to be quarantined. Each village should have a task force responsible for giving education on epidemic prevention and control to each family, check their temperature and ask people with suspected symptoms to go to medical stations for examination.

Quarantine areas must be watched closely by commune police and sterilised regularly.

In an inspection of Vinh Phuc Province on Tuesday, associate professor Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Medical Service Administration under the Ministry of Health (MoH), praised the province for its efforts to cope with the epidemic, adding that the province should supervise affected areas.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said the province should prepare plans for cross-infection.

Emphasising the importance of quarantines, Long asked the province to widen the quarantine scale, especially in Binh Xuyen District.

The Vinh Phuc Department of Education and Training (DoET) has proposed the provincial People’s Committee keep schools shut for one more week, from February 17 to 23, to ensure epidemic control.

Nguyen Viet Ha, an official of the department, said during the absence, students would be taught via the internet.

Acting Director of the Vinh Phuc DoET on Tuesday presented a certificate of merit to Dao Chi Manh, principal of Kim Ngoc Primary School in Vinh Yen City, for his excellent achievements in organising online teaching during the outbreak.

According to the department, the school’s online studying channels are very useful, attracting a great number of students to join, not only from the school but also from other schools in the province.

Manh said the school had two online studying channels, which were vio.edu.vn and eteachers.edu.vn.

Nearly 1,000 students access the websites per day, said Manh. — VNS

Hanoi buildings tighten control over coronavirus prevention

Many buildings in Hanoi have deployed measures for coronavirus prevention.

Drastic measures taken for prevention of coronavirus

Nine people have been taken into quarantine and put under observation in Da Nang after being detected with a slight fever. The nine were among a total of 8,300 tested at the international airport and seaports.