People buy medicines at a pharmacy in Hà Nội. The city authorities have asked pharmacies to report on individuals purchasing medicines for common cold symptoms of cough and fever. Photo Hanoimoi.com.vn

HÀ NỘI – Authorities in Hà Nội have asked pharmacies to report individuals purchasing medicines for symptoms of the common cold symptoms, such as a cough and fever.

The request was made by Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung at a meeting of Hà Nội Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control held on Monday.

He said the buyers should be asked to submit health declarations to local health stations immediately to be tested for COVID-19.

“If any of these pharmacies fail to comply with the request, they will be dealt with in accordance with the law, including having their licences revoked,” Chung said, emphasising that it was their duty to take part in the prevention and control of the epidemic.

The chairman also ordered private clinics to take samples for COVID-19 testing from visitors who seek treatment for fevers, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Chung said the outbreak in Bạch Mai Hospital has been brought under control, but there was another hotspot in Hạ Lôi Village in Mê Linh District with at least 12 cases so far. 

These outbreaks might relate to many provinces and cities, so the village should be locked down.

Anyone connected to Hạ Lôi Village and Bach Mai Hospital have to fill in health declarations and be subject to 14-day quarantine at home.

Medical staff have been asked to take samples of all people in contact with F1, F2 and F3 cases in those areas.

To prevent infection at health facilities, the chairman asked the Health Department to set regulations on receiving and treating patients to avoid too many lining up for medical examinations. They should be requested to wear masks and stand at a safe distance.

No symptoms

About 68 per cent of COVID-19 infection cases in Ha Noi are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, according to Nguyễn Nhật Cảm, director of Hà Nội Centre for Disease Control. It was found through epidemiological analysis, he said.

It meant that only a third of infections could be detected if relying on clinical symptoms, Cảm said.

He said even asymptomatic people could spread the disease to others, thus, monitoring and testing are essential in COVID-19 prevention.

The strategy Hà Nội has adopted from the beginning was to perform COVID-19 tests to detect and monitor infection cases early and then zoning so that the outbreak could be extinguished quickly.

“Thanks to this strategy, Hà Nội has detected several sources of infection in the community such as in Hạ Lôi village,” Cảm said, adding that if the city authorities didn’t take drastic measures in the past few weeks, the spreading of the disease on a large scale would have been possible. – VNS