COVID-19 in Vietnam, update on 20th July 2020
Vietnam continues to report more COVID-19 cases imported from abroad. However, with regulations in place that see all overseas arrivals quarantined upon entry, the country has stayed clear of community transmission for over 3 months. The last case of infection in the community was all the way back on 16th April 2020.
So far, Vietnam has recorded 383 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the outbreak, 357 of whom have recovered. Public life in the country has returned to normal. Wearing masks is no longer mandatory in public, and schools, workplaces, and entertainment facilities have reopened for months.
11 new COVID-19 cases and 7 recoveries in the past week
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Image credit: Vân Đồn International Airport
Vietnam has had 11 new COVID-19 cases since our last update, and the total patient tally is currently sitting at 383.
The latest patient was reported by the Ministry of Health yesterday evening to be a 40-year-old man from Myanmar. He is a crew member of a ship that entered the Hòn Gai Port in Quảng Ninh Province on 23rd June. After serving a 2-week quarantine period on the ship, he was isolated in a hotel in Quảng Ninh for further monitoring. Here, his first COVID-19 test on 9th July yielded negative results, but his second one on 17th July was positive. The man is now receiving treatment at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.
Before this, 9 Russian men who landed at the Tân Sơn Nhất Airport, Hồ Chí Minh City on 11th July were confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus. All passengers on their flight are experts in various industrial fields who were granted entry by the Vietnamese government, and these 9 patients had tested positive for COVID-19 during the quarantine period following their entry.
Aside from them, a 53-year-old Vietnamese man who returned from Russia on 9th July was also confirmed as a COVID-19 patient.
3 patients were discharged from the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases on 16th July
Image credit: National Hospital of Tropical Diseases
On the other hand, 7 previous patients who were treated at various medical facilities in Vietnam have recovered in the past week, leaving the country with 26 active cases.
Vietnam prepares to repatriate 120 citizens infected by COVID-19
219 Vietnamese citizens, 120 among whom are infected with COVID-19, will be repatriated from Equatorial Guinea next month
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Image credit: SanhChau Pham
With the domestic COVID-19 situation kept in check, Vietnam has been turning its gaze toward supporting overseas citizens. It is currently preparing a special flight to repatriate 219 Vietnamese people living in Equatorial Guinea.
These 219 people are employees of 3 Vietnamese construction companies operating in Equatorial Guinea. According to the latest reports, 120 among them have been infected with the coronavirus, and 7 others are suffering from other diseases such as malaria. One patient even has COVID-19 and malaria at the same time.
The repatriating flight is expected to take off from Vietnam on 3rd August. A team of medical workers from leading hospitals will be deployed to assist the patients during their flight home.
21 Chinese people quarantined
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Image credit: VNExpress
Last Saturday, following reports from local residents, Quảng Nam Province’s police force investigated a villa for rent in the area and discovered that several Chinese citizens had been staying there.
They tried to flee the scene upon the police’s arrival, but two were detained immediately while 19 others were located and quarantined on the same day. So far, none have been found positive for COVID-19.
Initial investigations reveal that many of these Chinese citizens don’t have a passport and had entered Vietnam illegally to look for work. It is not disclosed how they got past the border.
Vietnam’s COVID-19 situation, update on 20th July 2020
We are proud to see that Vietnam has not only managed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but is also actively seeking to bring back infected citizens from overseas to offer them shelter and treatment. It is truly heartwarming to see kinship shining in times of need.
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Cover image adapted from Vân Đồn International Airport and SanhChau Pham
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