Members of Women’s Union in Tân Ninh Commune in Long An Province’s Tân Thạch District learn about novel coronavirus. — VNA/VNS Photo Đức Hạnh

HÀ NỘI — Localities across the country are proactively implementing measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

A training exercise on how to deal with patients who are suspected of infection was held on Tuesday in Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk.

Bùi Khắc Hùng, director of Krông Pắk District’s Health Centre, said the premise of the drill was how to detect a patient showing infection symptoms and determine if they had come into contact with people returning from virus-stricken areas.

The exercise providing necessary knowledge for health workers in the province while enhancing the response capacity for the health sector in case of outbreak, he said.

The province has reported 15 people with suspected COVID-19 infection as of Tuesday. Twelve of them tested negative and have been discharged.

In Kiên Giang Province, Nguyễn Văn Thanh, vice rector of Kiên Giang University, said all buildings, student dormitory, library and departments have been disinfected ahead of students returning.

Nearly 4,100 students are studying in the university including 150 from Laos and Cambodia. 500 are living at the dormitory.

The university has organised training classes to provide knowledge related to COVID-19 to all students and also distributed 4,500 free face masks.

In the central province of Quảng Nam, two people with suspected COVID-19 infections have tested negative, said Nguyễn Văn Hải, director of the provincial Health Department.

Despite being free of suspected cases, the province will continue monitoring and managing people entering the province .

Measures for combatting and preventing COVID-19 have been adopted at other provinces and cities including Bắc Giang, Điện Biên, Lâm Đồng and HCM City.

Three facilities have been set up for quarantine in the northern province of Bắc Giang. The authorities have quarantined 27 people including 10 Chinese nationals by Monday.

As many as 48 people who came from or transit via virus-hit areas of China were put under 14-day quarantine in Lâm Đồng Province.

Similar actions are underway in the northern province of Điện Biên which borders China and where a lot of trade activities take place.

“Mường Nhé District’s health centre has set up a steering committee and joint task to cope with the disease. Health equipment and human resources are ready to treat patients in case an outbreak occurs,” said Nguyễn Danh, deputy director of Mường Nhé District’s health centre.

The provincial agencies also tightened monitoring anybody entering the province and the country.

In HCM City, Li Ding, a Chinese national, has been discharged from Chợ Rẫy Hospital on Wednesday, becoming the seventh patients to be successfully treated in Việt Nam.

Li Ding and his son, Li Zichao, were the first people infected with the virus in the country.

His son was discharged on February 4. But Ding was treated for longer as he has different ailments including diabetes, lung cancer and hypertension.

According to HCM City Centre for Disease Control, the city still has one suspected case and more than 2,580 people quarantined. Of these, 2,521 people are being monitored at home.

Supervision tighten

Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam has requested ministries, agencies and localities to tighten supervision to stamp out any outbreak and prevent transmission.

Speaking at a meeting held in Hà Nội on Wednesday, Đam said although the number of cases in Việt Nam remained small and there were positive signs in treatment, the disease was expected to develop and there was high risk of outbreak.

He asked forces to step up communication work to raise awareness of quarantined people about their responsibilities towards families and society. The deputy PM also instructed ministries and agencies to provide support in human resources and medical equipment to Vĩnh Phúc Province which has the most infection cases so far.

Deputy Minister of Health Trương Quốc Cường said in accordance with research data, the fatalities rate was 2-3 per cent, the epidemic was more contagious than severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and other coronavirus with infection rate of between 2.5 and 4.

He emphasised the need to prevent disease transmission by improving quarantine work and stamping out disease on the spot. — VNS