Eighth coronavirus infection confirmed in Vietnam

February 03, 2020 | 14:00

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The Ministry of Health on February 3 confirmed the eighth novel coronavirus infection case in Vietnam.

The latest case is a 29-year-old woman from the northern province of Vinh Phuc. She is being treated at the Central Hospital for Tropical Disease in Dong Anh district, Hanoi.

She is one of the eight people returning from Wuhan, China, three of whom tested positive for coronavirus.

According to the latest update from the MoH, as of 7:30 am February 3, the epidemic was detected in 27 countries with the total number of cases of infection reaching 17,387, including over 17,205 in China. The coronavirus was detected in 182 patients outside of China

The deadly virus killed 362 people, 361 of whom were in China. The other death was reported in the Philippines.

In the wake of the fatal epidemic spreading at a rapid rate, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on February 2 signed a new official Telegram on intensifying prevention and fight against acute respiratory infection caused by the new strain of coronavirus (nCoV).

Under Official Telegram No.156/CD-TTg, the government leader orders restrictions of gatherings, suspension of the organisation of festivals, even those already open in the provinces where the coronavirus outbreak was reported, and allowed students to be absent from school. In order to strengthen the prevention and fight against the fatal epidemic, the PM asked ministries and provinces to do the following tasks:

-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has to discuss with authorised Chinese agencies Vietnam’s policies and measures to prevent and fight against the epidemic, share and co-operate with them in the prevention and fight. They will also have to reach an agreement with the Chinese side on the evacuation of Vietnamese citizens from China to Vietnam via the international border gates of Huu Nghi (Lang Son province), Lao Cai (Lao Cai province), Mong Cai (Quang Ninh province), Tay Trang (Dien Bien province), and Thanh Thuy (Ha Giang province) under the proposal of the Ministry of National Defence (MoND).

The MoFA should also work with the MoND and the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) to create favourable conditions for Chinese nationals to return home.

-The Ministry of National Defense has to chair meetings and co-operate with the ministries and the provinces bordering China to tighten control exit and entry to the country. The MoND was tasked to work with and chair meetings with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the MoPS, the MoFA, and the People’s Committees of the provinces which have the international border gates and airports that receive Vietnamese returning from the affected areas on ensuring materials, facilities, and equipment to welcome and isolate them for 14 days. Directing border guards will have to closely co-operate with local border forces to control travel on tracks and self-opened crossings along the Chinese border.

-The MoH will chair and work with the MoFA, the MoND, the MoPS, the relevant provincial People’s Committees on 14-day isolation of Vietnamese people coming home from China, and treatment of suspicious cases. The MoH was also tasked with providing training on the prevention and fight against the epidemic for localities, as well as with working with ministries, agencies, and localities on ensuring facilities, equipment, materials, and medicine for the prevention and fight against the epidemic.

-The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will chair meetings and co-ordinate with relevant ministries and localities to check the number of Vietnamese workers in China and inform the MoFA, the MoND, the MoPS, the MoH, and relevant provinces so as to make reasonable and timely preparations in case of evacuation. At the same time, the ministry will direct localities and businesses employing Chinese labourers to conduct prevention measures in line with the regulations.

-The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism was tasked with tightening inspections of the suspension of festivals that have not opened yet, and downsizing ongoing ones across the localities, as well as with co-ordinating with the nCoV-infected provinces to completely halt all festivals, even those already opened.

The government also asked the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the People’s Committees of the cities directly under the central government to make preparations for the prevention and fight against the epidemic.

Also, on Februrary 2, the government sent a document to the MoH and the MoET, requesting them to give directions to the cities and provinces on the temporary absence of children from nursery schools, kindergartens, primary schools, as well as junior and senior secondary schools amid the coronavirus outbreak.

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