Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang remains the biggest epicenter with 105 coronavirus cases reported on May 24 out of 184 infections nationwide.

Military-run group Viettel helps Bac Giang equip 1,000 cameras in quarantine zones. Source: Baobacgiang

The newly-infected cases have driven Bac Giang’s tally to 1,024 since the fresh outbreak has taken place for nearly a month.

The neighboring province of Bac Ninh posted total 505 cases, and Hanoi ranked third with 304 infections.

Given the rising infections, the Ministry of Health (MoH) called for support to Bac Giang which more than 60,000 workers are in centralized quarantine and Bac Ninh whose 70,000 residents placed under lockdown.

Bac Ninh will impose night movement restrictions from May 25. The order activates from 8:00 pm to the next morning in Bac Ninh city, Que Vo, Yen Phong, and Thuan Thanh districts. Yen Phong is located Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) while Que Vo houses Canon Vietnam Co., Ltd.

A surge in infections in Bac Giang has prompted MoH to ask more support in testing from medical centers. So far, nine hospitals and clinic institutes have joined the massive testing in the locality whose four industrial parks have been suspended over Covid-19.

Bac Giang can conduct 35,000 single tests per day, according to Duong Thi Hien at the Bac Giang Center for Diseases Prevention and Control.

Cumulative Covid-19 cases in Vietnam. Source: MOH. Chart: Minh Vu

On May 24, Vietnam confirmed two deaths, including a 50-year-old patient who died of septic shock, multiple dysfunction syndrome, bacteremia, gastrointestinal bleeding, and cirrhosis ascites while the other, a woman of 38 years of age died of septic shock and pneumonia caused by Covid-19. This patient has no underlying diseases and was excluded in the list of critical cases by MoH.

As the number of first-generation contacts of confirmed cases (F1) is on the rise, health experts on May 24 proposed home quarantine of low-risk F1 instead of putting them in centralized isolation.

As of May 24, Vietnam’s coronavirus infections hit 5,356, including 2,349 in the fresh outbreak. The death toll has recorded at 44.