Phúc Yên General Hospital where a doctor tests positive for COVID-19 once. Photo chinhphu.vn

VĨNH PHÚC —  A doctor working at Phúc Yên General Hospital in Vĩnh Phúc Province has tested positive for COVID-19 once.

The doctor's samples were sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation. The doctor has been quarantined at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Đông Anh District, Hà Nội.

Phúc Yên General Hospital on Sunday night took the samples of 1,457 people including staff members and patients and their relatives for testing. Additional tests were taken on Monday morning.

Also on Monday morning, Vĩnh Phúc Provincial Party Committee held a meeting about deploying measures to tackle COVID-19.

Hoàng Thị Thúy Loan, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, requested the People’s Committee and the provincial steering committee for COVID-19 strictly follow the directions of the Government and provincial authority on prevention and control work.

The province will expand quarantine areas and arrange at least 2,000 extra hospital beds in the province. Vĩnh Yên and Phúc Yên cities will have at least 300 hospital beds and 10-15 testing machines, ensuring adequate masks, disinfection, temperature measurement and sufficient funding for pandemic control.

Attention will be paid to tracing high-risk groups in locations where positive cases have been found, people leaving the province or those working in factories and enterprises where there have been positive cases.

The province will take tough measures right away in key areas, organise training and allocate sufficient funds for members of pandemic control groups in the neighbourhoods.

Earlier, the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention decided to lock down Phúc Yên General Hospital from May 3 to May 16.

Provincial police will work with the Department of Health, Phúc Yên City People's Committee and other agencies and units to ensure security and order as well as other tasks in disease prevention.

In related news, the provincial People’s Committee has requested the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health dispatch a working group to the province to ensure safety in pandemic prevention and control work in the area.

On April 9, five Chinese experts entered Việt Nam. Upon arrival, they were quarantined at Như Nguyệt Hotel in Yên Bái Province. On April 23, they completed the quarantine period and visited Sunny Club in Phúc Yên. The following days, they visited several other places in the province.

One of the experts tested positive when he returned to China on April 30. One more man tested positive for the virus the following day.

As of Monday morning, the Military Command of Vĩnh Phúc Province had quarantined 309 citizens in the province. Most of them are related to the Sunny Club and Hoa Sen Massage Spa in Phúc Yên and Vĩnh Yên cities.

An additional eight COVID-19 community patients were recorded on Monday in Vĩnh Phúc Province. Five patients numbered from No 2,972 to No 2,976 are female staff at a healthcare centre in Vĩnh Yên City. They all had close contact with the Chinese experts.  

The three other COVID-19 patients in the province were related to the Sunny Club in Phúc Yên Town.

Developments elsewhere

Hà Nội authorities have decided to temporarily close all schools in the city from pre-school to highschool from tomorrow to prevent the spread of the pandemic and encourage online teaching. 

Amid the increasing complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the provinces of Cần Thơ, An Giang, Long An and Yên Bái have also decided to stop all entertainment activities, close schools and strictly punish violations of COVID-19 rules.

On Monday, agencies in Cần Thơ City dished out 18 fines for not wearing masks in public with the punishment ranging from VND1-3 million.

Yên Bái Province People’s Committee has also closed schools in Nghĩa Lộ Township, Văn Chấn and Trấn Yên districts from May 3 to May 9.

The northern province of Hà Nam on Monday reported two new community COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of infections in the locality to 14. Both of the new patients are residents of Thọ Lão Village, Đạo Lý Commune, Lý Nhân District.

In Quảng Ninh Province, 122 tourists and 60 crew of the Ambassador cruise ship were ordeted to remain onboard Monday because one crew member working in the ship’s kitchen has been classified as F1 in connection with a COVID-19 patient in Hà Nam Province.

The Ambassador Cruise ship of Hạ Long Pacific Co. Ltd had been scheduled to dock at Tuần Châu port at noon on Monday after taking the tourists to stay overnight on Hạ Long Bay since Sunday noon.

A ship employee is reported to have returned to Hà Nam and had close contact with the owner of a gaming shop in the province, making him F1 and necessitating the quarantine of the ship. -- VNS