The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ will begin testing for SARS-CoV-2 after March 15. — VNA/VNS Photo Ánh Tuyết

HCM CITY — The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ will begin conducting tests for SARS-CoV-2 after March 15.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute designated the Cần Thơ centre as one with sufficient capacity and ability to conduct tests of the virus. All machines and equipment have been installed and staff are fully prepared.

Nguyễn Quang Thông, head of the centre, said the institute had checked its facilities, equipment and personnel to ensure compliance. 

The tests in the Cần Thơ centre will help shorten the time for detection and implementation of preventive measures in the Mekong Delta region.

In the past, the centre had to send samples to the HCM City Pasteur Institute for testing, and results took at least one day. It will continue to send samples to the institute until March 15.

The Ministry of Health on March 3 also approved testing at Thái Nguyên National Hospital, whose lab has sufficient conditions to satisfy biological safety level 2.

The hospital has a stable supply of chemicals and biological products, and has established standard practices before, during and after tests.

Tests of the virus are being conducted nationwide at 30 institutes, hospitals and centres for disease control and prevention.

They include the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology, Bạch Mai Hospital, Việt Nam National Children’s Hospital in Hà Nội, Pasteur institutes in HCM City and Nha Trang, Central Highland Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City, and centres for disease control and prevention in the provinces of Quảng Ninh, Thanh Hóa, Bắc Ninh, Bắc Giang, Hà Tĩnh and Lào Cai, and in cities of Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng. — VNS