The number of Covid-19 cases may increase in Vietnam in the time to come; however, the pandemic can be extinguished if the country makes good use of this precious timing, Zing News cited experts as saying.

Only 13 days after the first Covid-19 case in the community was detected in the coastal city of Danang, Vietnam has recorded another 224 Covid-19 patients.

Zoning, isolating and testing are important steps to stamp out the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Hoang Giam/Zing

At a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control on August 4, Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that through epidemiological investigations, models of prediction and expert consultations, the ministry has forecast that the Covid-19 outbreak in Danang started in early July.

Especially, through genetic analysis of the pathogenic virus on Covid-19 patients in Danang, experts can confirm that the virus acquired in three hospitals in the city is a new strain, a coronavirus mutation which makes it more infectious, Long said.

He added that experts forecast the number of Covid-19 cases will continue to rise in the coming time. However, the situation is still under control.

"Golden time"

Dr. Le Quoc Hung, head of the Department of Tropical Diseases under Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said that at this time when the pandemic is under control, it is considered valuable for stamping out the coronavirus outbreak in Danang.

This is the best time to control the number of Covid-19 cases so as for the coronavirus not to spread silently in the community, Hung said.

Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, head of the Infectious and Neurological Department under Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital 1, said that each type of infectious disease has a different “golden time” to be eradicated. For Covid-19, this time can range from about one month after the first case was detected.

After about 28 days, if no more Covid-19 infection is recorded, people can breathe sigh of relief, Khanh said.

He added that when Covid-19 spreads in the community, the dramatic increasing number of infections is not at all bad.

"The increasing number of new Covid-19 shows that the health sector has been able to monitor the path of the virus and early detect the patients," Khanh said.

“In my opinion, in about 10-15 more days, the number of Covid-19 cases may increase, then decrease gradually," said the doctor.