Hanoi Enforces Preventive Measures At Restaurants To Curb COVID-19, As Vietnam’s Patient Tally Hits 983

COVID-19 in Vietnam, update on 18th August

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 patient count reaches 983 this morning after the Ministry of Health confirmed 7 new cases in its morning update.

With several of the new cases being in Hanoi, the city has ordered public services such as restaurants and cafes to strengthen preventive measures to minimize the risk of the virus spreading in the community.

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7 new cases this morning and 12 others yesterday evening

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Image credit: Bệnh Viện Chợ Rẫy

Since our last update yesterday, the total COVID-19 patient count in Vietnam has seen a jump of 19 new cases, with 7 cases reported this morning and another 12 yesterday evening. These include:

• 6 Đà Nẵng residents aged between 33 and 59. 5 are caregivers or staff at the COVID-19 cluster of Đà Nẵng Hospital, while the other is still under investigation.
• 3 people from Quảng Nam, including 1 who visited the Đà Nẵng Hospital to treat unrelated health problems and 2 who had contact with previous patients.
• 6 people from Hải Dương City, all linked to a restaurant on Ngô Quyền Street that has become the biggest cluster in the city.
• 2 women from Hanoi. One visited Đà Nẵng between 22nd and 25th July, while the other had close contact with another patient.
• 2 imported cases who were quarantined on arrival.

Yesterday also saw 9 patients discharged from 2 medical facilities in Đà Nẵng after testing negative for the virus several times in a row. So far, Đà Nẵng has successfully treated 53 COVID-19 patients from this second outbreak.

On the other hand, a 51-year-old woman from Hải Châu District, Đà Nẵng was confirmed as Vietnam’s 25th COVID-19-related death this morning. Prior to contracting the virus, she already suffered from other serious health issues including ovarian cancer. She had had her left kidney removed due to kidney stone and urinary tract infections. Her causes of death were identified as pneumonia from COVID-19, multiple organ failure, and a heart attack.

With the latest numbers, Vietnam has recorded a total of 983 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, of whom 467 have recovered, 25 have died, and 491 are still in treatment.

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Hanoi enforces safety measures at cafes and restaurants

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Restaurants and cafes in Hanoi must now carry to preventive measures to ensure the safety of their staff and customers. Image for illustration purposes only
Image credit: VTV

With two new patients found in Hanoi, the city’s authorities are tightening safety measures to curtail the spread of the virus. Starting from tomorrow, all restaurants, cafes, beer pubs, and other food & beverage services in Hanoi must maintain a minimum distance of 1M between tables. Staff members are required to wear masks at all times, and customers must have their temperature measured and hands sanitized on entry. Any business that fails to comply faces the punishment of getting shut down.

The decision was made by Hanoi’s Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee Ngô Văn Quý in light of the fact that these facilities, particularly beer pubs, tend to attract large crowds. He also said that more community transmissions might be discovered in Hanoi in the coming days, but the risk of a widespread outbreak is minimal as long as safety measures are enforced and adhered to.

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 situation, update on 18th August

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While Vietnam is still seeing daily jumps in COVID-19 community infections, most of the new cases have been successfully contained in clusters. The authorities have proven that they can handle the pandemic, so for now, the best course of action is to keep ourselves updated on new regulations and adhere accordingly.

For more stories, check out:

• Saigon to use smartwatches to monitor quarantined people
• 10 things visitors in Vietnam need to know during COVID-19
• Đà Nẵng charity kitchen provides food to quarantine facilities
• Đà Nẵng residents support each other with free food and face masks
• Đà Nẵng builds makeshift hospital to fight COVID-19
• Poor Saigon boy hand out food to the underprivileged amidst COVID-19

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Cover image adapted from Bệnh Viện Chợ Rẫy and VTV

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