Vietnamese Authorities Perform Contact Tracing After 2 More COVID-19 Cases Reported Yesterday

COVID-19 in Vietnam, update on 27th July 2020

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Vietnam’s streak of 100 days staying clear of COVID-19 community transmission was officially broken on Saturday when a 57-year-old man living in the central city of Đà Nẵng was confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus. Since then, a total of 4 community infections associated with the city have been discovered.

We reported on the second community transmission in Đà Nẵng yesterday noon, and in the evening, the Ministry of Health announced two additional cases, including a 71-year-old woman living in the city and a 17-year-old man from Quảng Ngãi City who had visited Đà Nẵng to take care of a sick relative.

These two, documented as Patient 419 and Patient 420, are the latest COVID-19 cases recorded in Vietnam to this moment, pushing the country’s total patient tally to 420.

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2 more COVID-19 community transmissions reported

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Image credit: Cổng Thông tin Điện tử thành phố Đà Nẵng

Patient 419 is a 17-year-old man from Quảng Ngãi City, 150KM south of Đà Nẵng. On 14th July, he came to the Orthopedic and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital of Đà Nẵng to take care of his brother who had broken his leg in an accident. Patient 419 stayed at the hospital for 3 days before returning to Quảng Ngãi by bus on 17th July.

On 20th July, he came to the hospital again, and returned to Quảng Ngãi on 22nd July, this time by train. Around this time, he developed symptoms of fever and coughing and visited Quảng Ngãi City’s General Hospital for a check-up. He had his samples taken for COVID-19 testing on 24th July and was confirmed positive on 26th July.

The Orthopedic and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital of Đà Nẵng is located next to the Đà Nẵng Hospital and the Đà Nẵng Hospital C, both of which are currently under lockdown for being associated with Patient 416 and Patient 418, two previously confirmed COVID-19 community transmissions in the city.

Patient 420 is a 71-year-old woman living in Đà Nẵng with her husband, son, and daughter-in-law. She was in Hồ Chí Minh City between 21st June and 8th July to visit her daughter.

After returning to Đà Nẵng on 8th July, she came to the Hòa Cường Wholesale Market for groceries and also visited a sibling living on 2/9 Street, Hải Châu District.

By 12th July, she started experiencing chest pain and a fever. Her condition worsened over the next few days, so she came to the Đà Nẵng Hospital C for diagnosis on 21st July. The patient was then tested and confirmed positive for COVID-19 on 26th July.

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Vietnamese authorities tracking patients’ contacts

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Authorities are tracing people who’ve been in the same public places as the confirmed COVID-19 patients
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Image credit: Cổng Thông tin Điện tử thành phố Đà Nẵng

As the new patients had spent time in the community before being discovered and quarantined, authorities in Đà Nẵng and Quảng Ngãi are urgently tracking people who have been to the same public places as the patients in an effort to contain the disease.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health issued an emergency alert to look for:

1. People who visited the 3 hospitals:

• Đà Nẵng Hospital C: between 20th and 22th July.
• Đà Nẵng General Hospital: room 506 of the Internal Medicine Department on 17th July, and the Positive Recovery Room on 23rd July.
• Orthopedics and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital of Đà Nẵng: between 14th-16th July and 20th-21st July 2020 at the hospital’s canteen, pharmacy, and Room 401, Block B.

2. People who took buses from Thanh Hường Bus Service:

• The 3PM trip going from Đà Nẵng to Quảng Ngãi City on 17th July.
• The 3AM trip going from Quảng Ngãi City to Đà Nẵng on 20th July, which arrived at the Orthopedics and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital of Đà Nẵng at 6.30AM.

3. People on train number SE7 from Đà Nẵng to Quảng Ngãi City at 11PM on 21st July.
4. People who visited Hòa Cường Wholesale Market, 65 Lê Nổ Str., Hải Châu District, Đà Nẵng, on the mornings of 8th July to 12th July.
5. Customers at Cô Nở Noodle Store, Nguyễn Thụy Str., Quảng Ngãi Province, on the morning of 18th July.
6. Those who attended a housewarming party at Alley 1 Nguyễn Thông Str., Quảng Ngãi City, on 19th July.
7. Those who were at the Labor Culture House, Hùng Vương Str., Quảng Ngãi City, from 8-9PM on 23rd July.

The Ministry of Health calls for people who fall into the aforementioned categories to:

• Immediately contact the nearest medical authority for instructions.
• Call the hotlines: 1900988975 (Center for Disease Control in Đà Nẵng City) and 0914021022 (Center for Disease Control in Quảng Ngãi Province) and to provide the phone numbers of people who have had close contacts with them.
• Practice self-isolation at home.
• Go to https://tokhaiyte.vn/ to make an online health declaration, or download the NCOVI application from https://ncovi.vn/ and update their health condition regularly.

Đà Nẵng has stopped receiving tourists since yesterday, and the city’s People’s Committee has published a letter to apologize to all tourists for the inconvenience.

The apology letter was published on the official Facebook page of Đà Nẵng City’s authorities
Image credit: Cổng Thông tin Điện tử thành phố Đà Nẵng

“Against the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, Đà Nẵng has been actively deploying measures to control the disease and ensure the safety of the community. These urgent measures might have resulted in a trip not as fulfilling as you desired, or interfered with your travel plans. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and ask only for your sympathy,” the letter wrote.

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 situation, update on 27th July 2020

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The increasing new cases have been a major cause of concern for everyone living in Vietnam, not just Đà Nẵng residents. Still, given Vietnam’s outstanding performance against the pandemic so far and how quickly local authorities have reacted, we have faith that things will be kept under control and this ordeal will be over soon.

For now, those who fall into the categories listed by the Ministry of Health should adhere to the instructions and report to the nearest medical facilities to protect themselves and the community. The rest of us also need to do our part by wearing masks while going out and practising good hygiene.

For more stories, check out:

• Vietnamese doctors separate conjoined twins
• Vietnam’s Mai Linh Taxi sets Asia record for delivering babies in rides
• Vietnamese woman shows amazing weight loss photos
• Vietnamese doctors save patient with heart transplant
• New community transmission spotted in Đà Nẵng

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Cover image adapted from Cổng Thông tin Điện tử thành phố Đà Nẵng

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