Patients wait for examinations at the Đà Nẵng General Hospital. Up to 760 samples of people in close contact with two COVID-19 patients in Đà Nẵng tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. — VNS PHoto Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — Up to 760 samples of people in close contact with COVID-19 patients No 416 and No 418 in Đà Nẵng have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. 

The city’s health department said on Monday 276 of those tested have been isolated at hospital and 285 home.

It said those samples were taken from close contacts (F1) of the two patients.

The department, in co-operation with the ministry of health, would implement a mass test for 2,200 medical staff at the city’s general hospital before testing all staff at the C Hospital in the coming days.

Đà Nẵng started social distancing measures from 1pm on July 26, with all schools and entertainment centres closed, while tours and bookings were cancelled.

The military sprayed disinfectant around the city’s general hospital and living quarters of the two patients in Liên Chiểu and Hải Châu districts on July 26.

In neighbouring Quảng Nam Province, 120 people who had contact with the two COVID-19 patients (No 416 and 418) tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Director of the provincial health department, Nguyễn Văn Hai, made the announcement on July 27, and 50 more results will be announced soon.

Hai said isolation areas have been set up where people had contact with the four patients (No 416, 418, 419, 420) in Đà Nẵng and Quảng Ngãi.

Earlier, the province hosted and isolated 324 Vietnamese citizens returning from Canada. All people are in good health. No symptoms have been reported so far.

The province has offered tests and medical checks for all people in close communication or contact with the four patients.

The Quảng Ngãi provincial department of health said COVID-19 patient No 419 does not have a fever or cough on the morning of July 27. It said the patient was taken to the medical centre in Bình Sơn District for further treatment and isolation.

The department has been tracking the close contacts or indirect contacts for isolation and testing.

It also said samples of 269 Vietnamese citizens returning from France, Ivory Coast and African countries tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. They are healthy at an isolation site in the province.

The provincial agencies took 2,000 tourists from Lý Sơn Islands to the mainland on July 26.

All schools and entertainment centres and mass gatherings at public sites in the province have been banned. — VNS