The chemical unit of the military starts disinfecting the entire Kim Chung campus of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Đông Anh District, Hà Nội, on Thursday after a cluster of COVID-19 infections was detected, prompting a lockdown of the hospital. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

HÀ NỘI — Seventeen people in Hà Nội City and the northern provinces of Thái Bình and Bắc Ninh, all related to the cluster of infections in National Hospital of Tropical Diseases' Kim Chung campus in Đông Anh District, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Thursday, according to local health departments.

Three of the new patients are in Hà Nội, five in Thái Bình and nine in Bắc Ninh.

Among the three new cases in Hà Nội, two patients are in Đông Anh and Sóc Sơn districts and related to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases' Kim Chung campus in Đông Anh District, currently under lockdown for two weeks. One is a 44-year-old woman in Uy Nỗ Commune of Đông Anh District who is a daughter of a patient and the other is a 61-year-old woman in Việt Long Commune of Sóc Sơn District who is the mother of a patient in the hospital.

A 42-year-old doctor, head of the endocrinology faculty at the Military Hospital 105 in Sơn Tây District of Hà Nội, who recently had come to study at the Kim Chung campus of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, has also tested positive for the virus. He had received one dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on May 4.

Hà Nội has also recorded two other two positive cases which are connected to the cluster in Vĩnh Phúc Province, which involved a Chinese expert testing positive after finishing mandatory 14-day quarantine after arrival. One was a 35-year-old person and a one-year-old baby who had close contact with the patient who worked in Hoa Sen Spa in Vĩnh Phúc.

The new cases in Thái Bình and Bắc Ninh are family members of patients being treated in the hospital. 

The five positive cases in Thái Bình are one man living in Bình Minh Commune of Kiến Xương District and four women residing in Thái Thuyh District and Vũ Thư District.

The Thái Bình Health Department has traced 21 people who had close contacts with the patients.

As soon as the positive cases were announced, Thái Bình Province ordered social distancing from noon of Thursday, meaning gatherings larger than 20 people in public are forbidden, all non-essential services - including sports and culture and entertainment activities - are halted, and schools were shut until further notice.

Provincial police set up checkpoints at the patients’ residential areas.

The nine patients in Bắc Ninh Province, including three in Hiên Vân Commune, Tiên Du District, one in Bắc Ninh City, and six in Mão Điền Commune, Thuận Thành District - are being treated the Bắc Ninh General Hospital.

A total of 354 direct contacts (F1) to these cases and 2,369 contacts of F1 cases have been identified so far.

In addition to the two patients from the province that stayed at the Kim Chung Campus in Hà Nội when it started lockdown on Wednesday, Bắc Ninh has recorded 11 cases related to the tropical diseases hospital.

Bắc Ninh's authorities ordered the closure of all restaurants in the province, except for takeout services, urged people not to congregate in large groups and refrain from going out when not necessary.

Hospital resumes service

The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases' Giải Phóng Street campus has re-opened from Thursday morning after one day of closing for disinfection.

Previously, on Wednesday, the hospital temporarily stopped examining service and receiving patients for inpatient treatment at two facilities in Giải Phóng Street and Đông Anh District due to the cluster of COVID-19 infections here.

The hospital has completed testing for more than 800 staff, workers, students, patients and family members present at the Kim Chung facility on Thursday, and found a total of 22 positive cases as of Thursday morning, as confirmed by the health ministry.

In another development, the Department of Tourism of southern Kiên Giang Province has announced that all people arriving or returning from areas with outbreaks of COVID-19, particularly Hà Nội, Hà Nam, Hưng Yên and HCM City, will have to undergo concentrated quarantine for 14 days and be tested for SARS-CoV-2. — VNS