The Ministry of Health has requested local health authorities to review their Covid-19 testing capacity and prepare resources for testing, VnExpress quoted Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son as saying on July 27.

The request was made after four new Covid-19 local infections were detected in Danang city and Quang Ngai province.

Medical staff wait to take swab samples from people arriving at Noi Bai airport. Photo: Giang Huy

Because the sources of infection in Danang have not been identified, it is necessary to expand Covid-19 testing to quickly deter outbreaks, promptly localize and extinguish them thoroughly.

Experts also said that screening tests should not be applied only in Danang, but also in other localities and suspected cases must be strictly controlled.

The testing will be conducted with made-in-Vietnam test kits. The Ministry of Health said it has sufficient test kits, medical equipment and other necessary conditions to respond to new developments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi, the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Central Highlands have been asked to assess, recognize and support the Covid-19 testing capacity for laboratories.

Currently, Vietnam has 118 laboratories which are capable of testing Covid-19. Among them, 66 are capable of confirming Covid-19 infections. The maximum testing capacity is about 31,000 patient samples per day. So far, the country has tested Realtime PCR for nearly 430,000 patient samples, of which 420 showed positive.

As of July 28, Vietnam has recorded 431 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of them 365 have been treated and discharged from hospital, 66 are still under treatment.

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected over 16,628,980 people globally, claiming more than 655,860 lives.