Given the high risk of Covid-19 infection from hospitals and patients, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has required more attention to all seriously ill people, especially patients of diabetes and kidney failure.

At a meeting on August 3, Mr. Chung again asked authorities to thoroughly promote the spirit of “fighting Covid-19 like fighting the enemy” as Hanoi has entered a new intense period, Kinh Te & Do Thi reported.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung speaks at the meeting. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

Hanoi has recorded 88,289 people returning from Danang, where the first locally-transmitted Covid-19 case was found after more than three months, since July 8. The municipal health sector has conducted Covid-19 quick tests on 70,689 people. The 12/12 cases testing positive for the coronavirus obtained negative results when taking confirmatory PCR tests, the Hanoi mayor said.

He added that since the second wave of the pandemic started in Vietnam, the number of Covid-19 patients in the hot spot of Danang has increased rapidly. Therefore, Hanoi may continue to detect Covid-19 patients in the community.

Citing some studies by the Ministries of Health, Science and Technology, Mr. Chung affirmed that the new strain of the coronavirus has mutated, becoming more unpredictable and dangerous. Especially, the virus spreads faster and affects human health more severely, resulting in various fatalities in Vietnam.

The mayor stressed that those testing negative in the first instance should not feel assured about their health because some people obtain positive results after 13-14 days in quarantine. Besides, nearly half of the positive cases in Danang are asymptomatic.

Hanoi would breathe in relief if until August 13, or 14 days from the suspension of all passenger movements to and from Danang, no cases of Covid-19 infection are detected, Chung said.

He has required people to voluntarily quarantine in accordance with the regulations, supervise their health and timely make medical declaration when finding abnormal manifestations.

The Hanoi Department of Health has been asked to thoroughly channelize patients in hospitals in the city, provide hand sanitizers and face masks, and ensure disinfection. Each patient is allowed to have only one caregiver.

Regarding Hanoi’s testing capacity, Mr. Chung said that the municipal heath sector could test 5,000-6,000 RT-PCR samples per day in the first period of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the available machines now can handle 800 samples only and the quick test kits are also running out. Thus, he has encouraged people to be calm, self-isolate, measure body temperature and disinfect their dwelling places.