The whole city has to hurry to complete testing all returnees from Danang by August 20 to soon wipe out the novel coronavirus, Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee said at a meeting on August 9.

Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee speaks at a meeting on Aug 9. Photo: VietNamNet

He demanded local authorities take RT-PCR tests of roughly 80,000 people by August 15 or August 20 at the latest.

Chung said at the meeting shortly after the Ministry of Health announced another infection in Hanoi which is of secondary transmission after the virus reemerged in Danang on July 25.

Chung said the Hanoi Center for Diseases Prevention and Control (CDC) and the municipal Department of Health will assume responsibility for the testing with the support of four central hospitals namely Bach Mai Hospital, National Hospital of Pediatrics, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and Hanoi Medical University.

This is followed by the aggressive contact tracing of people who made contact with the Covid-19 patients (commonly known as F1) and those who made contact with F1 (or F2) in the capital city and those are linked to other cities and provinces.

“All F1 cases must be quarantined in concentrated centers and taken for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) twice in 14 days. Meanwhile, F2 people are isolated at home and tested,” Mr. Chung required.

To make the measures effective, he asked the police to closely control the immigration and impose heavy penalties on people who don't wear face masks in public places.

The city government agreed to allow district authorities to purchase consumable supplies and personal protective equipment with the support by the CDC.

Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Ngo Van Quy. Photo: Plo

At the meeting, Mr. Chung's deputy Ngo Van Quy emphasized three measures that Hanoi needs to continue which are (1) contract tracing of F1 and F2, and identifying means of transport and flights from Danang, (2) taking PCR tests for people who returned from July 15 forward, and (3) quarantining those returning from Danang over the last 14 days.

Since the resurgence of the community infection, Hanoi has confirmed 7 cases, all linked to Danang. Six of them are returnees from Danang tours and one is of secondary transmission.