Vietnam’s northern province of Hai Duong, the country’s current Covid-19 hotspot, will impose blockade since February 16, a tough measure to prevent the disease spread, as multiple cases found.

Mr. Pham Xuan Thang, secretary of the Hai Duong provincial Party Committee, made the statement at a meeting on February 15.

In accordance with the prime minister’s Decree 16/CT-TTg, the imposition of blockade means people are required to stay home with limited outdoor activities, excepting in an emergency and for essential services, Mr. Thang said, adding that the time for the blockade in the province will be 15 days.

Hai Duong is now put under high alert. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

According to a report of the Center for Disease Control in Hai Duong province, by the end of February 14, the total cumulative cases in the province numbered 461. In which, 55 cases have been discharged from the hospitals.

Covid-19 cases were recorded in 11 cities, towns and districts of Hai Duong, of which Chi Linh has the highest number of cases, followed by Cam Giang and Kinh Mon.

The Ministry of Health said the pandemic evolution in Hai Duong is still unpredictable and may last long. Therefore, Hai Duong province has changed the testing method, in which not only people in quarantined areas must take the test but the entire population in areas where are being locked down, first at the heart of the pandemic in Chi Linh town.

From February 14, more than 100 medical staff divided into 15 groups to 19 communes and wards of Chi Linh have been dispatched to take coronavirus samples as soon as possible.

The testing results will help assess whether there is a risk of the pandemic spread in the community or not. It is expected that it will take one or two days and the specialized agencies will ponder further measures to be applied at the Covid-19 epicenters.

Vietnam was put on high alert again after the first locally-transmitted coronavirus cases were confirmed since late January in the country’s northern provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh.

At the time of writing, Vietnam has had additional 34 new cases of Covid-19 including 31 cases in northern province of Hai Duong and three cases in the capital city of Hanoi, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new cases brought the total number of infections in Vietnam to 2,229, including 1,331 domestically-transmitted cases, according to the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The treatment subcommittee said three more patients have been given the all-clear from the novel coronavirus, raising the total number of recoveries to 1,534, while the number of deaths related to the disease remained at 35.