The situation in Vietnam’s Covid-19 hot spots has been brought under control as the number of new cases has decreased in recent days, according to the Ministry of Health.

Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long speaks at the meeting. Photo: Dinh Nam

However, some sporadic infections are forecast to emerge in the community, Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 prevention and control in Hanoi on August 20.

The health official asked the three hardest hit localities namely the central city of Danang, neighboring Quang Nam province and the northern province of Hai Duong, to continue focusing on tracing and detecting new cases so as to stamp out the outbreak as soon as possible.

In nearly a month, Danang has conducted nearly 90,000 tests and detected 356 cases positive with the novel coronavirus, Mr. Long said.

He added that the situation in Hai Duong has also been basically controlled with no new infections reported over the last two days.

Regarding vaccine research, Vietnam’s health ministry has been maintaining close connection with other countries such as Russia, the UK and the US which are conducting vaccine study and development.

Vietnam has so far recorded 1,007 Covid-19 cases, 542 recovereds and 25 deaths. The rest remain under treatment.

On the national high school graduation exam, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Huu Do said the first phase of the exam was successfully held with the participation of 870,000 students.

Another 26,000 students, most of them in Danang and Quang Nam, will attend the second phase that is expected to be held at the end of August, Mr. Do said, noting that the ministry will keep coordinating with the localities to ensure a safe exam.