nCoV: Health ministry allays concerns

As control measures are strictly implemented, Vietnam is confident of combating the new coronavirus, people should not be too worried and don't need to store food, VnExpress quoted Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long as saying at a press conference on February 5.

Long said that people need to follow the medical instructions and should not be bewildering to spread out confusing rumors about the epidemic.

A doctor at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City checks on a Chinese patient infected with the nCoV. Photo: Huu Khoa

"There have been calls for hoarding food, even gold. That is nonsense," Long stressed, adding that Vietnam is taking many preventive measures to control the new coronavirus outbreak.

Vietnam has applied many isolation rounds. Any person returning from the epidemic area to the country must be isolated. As the epidemic has hit all 31 provinces in China, no Chinese nationals have entered Vietnam since the isolation order was issued.

“When returning to Vietnam from the epidemic area, people would be immediately isolated. Up to now, about 900 people have been put into quarantine in border localities, most of them are Vietnamese,” Long said.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long emphasized that it is still early to draw a panoramic picture of the epidemic situation in Vietnam, and the peak of the nCoV epidemic will be in the next 7-10 days in China, not in Vietnam.

"With drastic measures, Vietnam is be relatively shielded against the nCoV epidemic," said the deputy minister.

The Deputy Minister Long also said that according to the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, nCoV patients are entitled to free treatment until they recover.

VnExpress also reported that carriers of the new coronavirus or suspected of being infected will be tested free across Vietnam.

The Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) health fund will cover nCoV tests and related treatment.

Le Van Phuc, head of the department of health insurance policy implementation at VSI, said that VSI is also working with the Ministry of Health on financing the treatment of other diseases or problems arising during the nCoV treatment process.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 10 infections of the novel coronavirus, of them three have recovered and been discharged from hospital. As of February 5, the country was quarantining 78 suspected people, compared to 90 the previous day. Besides, more than 400 who had close contact with infected patients remain under close watch.

As of February 6 morning, the nCoV death toll in the world hit 565 while confirmed infections topped 28,200, of them 1,170 have recovered.