A health worker takes samples for COVID-19 testing from a resident in Thanh Trì District, Hà Nội, on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

HÀ NỘI — The Department of Health of Hà Nội is conducting a large-scale testing campaign for about 300,000 residents in high-risk areas and those at high risk of infection in 30 districts and townships from August 10-17.

The municipal health sector is determined to optimise the social distancing period, which will end on August 23, to detect infected cases soon.

The target groups include freight forwarders, traders at markets and supermarkets, public sanitation workers, taxi drivers, workers at industrial parks, as well as residents in high-risk areas where many patients have been confirmed, residents in crowded areas or areas with high traffic volume.

The Department planned to mobilise nearly 1,000 students of the Hà Nội Medical College, of whom 300 partook in disease prevention in Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces – the previous pandemic hotspots, to collect samples.

The move was made as the pandemic situation remains complicated in the city with many new cases having been recorded in the community.

Over the past three weeks, 634 cases out of 1,369 local infections have been detected in the community including Thọ Am hamlet cluster in Thanh Trì District, Hoa Vôi neighbourhood cluster in Quốc Oai District, as well as Phùng market cluster in Thạch Thất District. 

The capital city recorded over 1,900 cases of COVID-19 since the fourth wave of infections beginning in late April, with the bulk discovered since early July. — VNS