Covid-19: Vietnam reports two more local infections, caseload hits 420

Two more people in Vietnam have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after the first locally-transmitted case was detected on July 24, more than three months of no community infection.

Disinfection in Danang - hometown of the first locally-transmitted case after more than three months. Photo: VnExpress

The two latest cases raise the number of local infections after months of non-community transmission to four and the country’s case count to 420 as of July 27.

Three of the latest four local infections were detected in the central city of Danang and one in the central province of Quang Ngai. Police in Danang have recently found dozens of illegal Chinese immigrants.

Sources of the infections remain unknown so far while there’s no clue whether the cases are linked to one another.

The detection has prompted local authorities to take precautionary measures, including contact tracing, quarantine, testing, and lockdown.

Danang has banned crowd gatherings in public places and non-essential services and entertainment activities, closed schools, and stopped receiving inbound tourists.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has increased flights to and from Danang to fly people home as this coastal city is currently a favorite tourist destination.

The Ministry of Health has sent several quick-response teams to support Danang and Quang Ngai. A group of doctors from Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital that treated Covid-19 Patient No.91, a British man, also came to Danang to support critical patients there.

Nearly 12,000 people are under quarantine in Vietnam, including more than 200 in hospitals and the remaining are at concentrated centers and at home, according to the Ministry of Health.

Of the total Covid-19 patients in Vietnam, 365 people have recovered, accounting for 87% of the total infections. 276 cases are imported from overseas and isolated upon arrival.