The High Command of Chemicals together with the Hà Nội Capital High Command spray disinfectants in the lockdown village of Hạ Lôi, Hà Nội’s Mê Linh Commune on Wednesday night. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Cúc

HÀ NỘI — All 19 police officers of the Đông Ngạc Ward’s Police Station, Bắc Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội have been quarantined after it was discovered the station’s deputy head had eaten a meal with Việt Nam's 243rd COVID-19 patient.

Chairman of the People’s Committee of the district Trần Thế Cương announced on Wednesday afternoon at a meeting of the city’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control that authorised agencies had sprayed disinfectants in appropriate areas and took samples of the officers for tests.

Cương said a total of eight people had close contact with the 243rd patient, including the deputy head of the police station and three flower sellers who live in the district. All samples of the closely-contacted people were sent to the city’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for tests.

Cương also asked the centre to provide rapid testing for flower sellers in the market.

In a related move, the High Command of Chemicals under the Ministry of National Defence together with the Hà Nội Capital High Command sprayed disinfectants in the locked-down village of Hạ Lôi, Hà Nội’s Mê Linh Commune, Mê Linh District on Wednesday night.

The village, where the 243rd patient lives and contacted many people, was locked down on Tuesday afternoon.

The People’s Committee of the district will provide food for all 2,973 households in the village during the lockdown, which will run from April 8 to May 5.

The 243rd patient is a 47-year-old man, from Mê Linh Commune. He took his wife to Bạch Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day. The couple had lunch at a restaurant opposite the hospital and did not return to the hospital.

Last Friday, he took his wife to the Hà Nội Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital for an examination without declaring that he and his wife had visited Bạch Mai Hospital on March 12 as per the requirements of the Ministry of Health.

This failure to declare resulted in 63 doctors and nurses from the Hà Nội Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital being put in quarantine at the hospital on Monday.

On Wednesday morning, a neighbour of the 243rd patient in Hạ Lôi Village was confirmed as the 250th patient after having tested positive for the disease. — VNS