Hà Giang Province's leaders and medical workers prepare for Đồng Văn District lockdown on Wednesday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ GIANG — The entire Đồng Văn District in the northern mountainous province of Hà Giang has been locked down on Wednesday until further notice after the first COVID-19 case was reported in the province last week.

Đồng Văn District covers an area of 27,500ha with more than 1,600 households and 7,600 people, including diverse ethnic minority communities.

Earlier, on April 17, Pín Tủng Hamlet and two healthcare facilities in Đồng Văn District were put under lockdown after patient 268 – a 16-year-old ethnic minority girl – tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on April 16.

“The patient is undergoing treatment at the district hospital. A total of 20 doctors and nurses were in contact with her, they live in the district. In addition, there are a lot of other relatives who met the girl, therefore, we have decided to lock down the whole district to impose proper quarantine measures and ensure safety,” said Phạm Đức Nam, chief of staff of Đồng Văn District People’s Committee and Council, adding that he himself was also isolating at home.

Tests on 20 doctors and nurses were negative for the novel strain of the coronavirus.

“We carefully prepared for the lockdown to avoid shortages of food and supplies,” Nam said.

Hà Giang Province traced 56 people in direct contact with the patient and 84 others in contact with these people.

All of them have been kept in isolation.

According to the provincial Department of Health, the patient visited Phó Bảng General Clinic for a health check after experiencing shortness of breath on April 7.

She was then transferred to Đồng Văn District’s General Hospital for quarantine.

In the middle of March, she met her brothers who worked in China and completed 14-day quarantine after returning to Việt Nam.

The National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Control and Prevention, at a meeting on Wednesday morning, classified Hà Giang Province in the medium-risk group, along with Bắc Ninh Province and HCM City due to its complicated epidemiological history and risks of community transmission. — VNS