A Covid-19 checkpoint between HCM City and Long An Province. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Cần Thơ City and several provinces in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta reported sharp increases in new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

Long An Province, a neighbouring province of HCM City, logged 517 cases on Tuesday, raising the number of infections in the province to 2,301 scattered in all of its 15 districts and towns, according to the provincial Centre for Disease Control.

The province has reported 13 COVID-19 deaths since the fourth wave of the pandemic began in late April.

It has imposed a quarantine and restrictions on movement in 306 residential areas with more than 11,000 households to contain the outbreak.

As there is a daily spike in new cases, the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has asked local authorities to urgently set up field hospitals for COVID-19 treatment.

Guidelines on home quarantine for people who were in close contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases have been provided to the public for pilot implementation in the province.

Businesses must comply with strict social distancing measures, including setting up accommodation for workers and conducting regular COVID-19 tests in order to maintain manufacturing operations amid the ongoing province-wide lockdown under Government Directive 16 starting on Monday.

The provincial Department of Health was asked to prepare enough personal protective equipment, testing supplies and equipment, and medical devices used to treat COVID-19, amid the sharp increase in new infections.

Đồng Tháp and Tiền Giang provinces are also seeing a spike in new daily cases.

On Tuesday, Đồng Tháp and Tiền Giang provinces reported 66 cases and 133 cases, respectively. The number of COVID-19 infections in Đồng Tháp jumped to 1,441 and in Tiền Giang 1,263.

As of Tuesday, Cần Thơ City reported 217 cases, with an additional 47 new cases detected on the day.

The city has put into use a new field hospital with 100 beds based at Cái Răng District’s Medical Centre to meet the rising demand for treatment of COVID-19 patients in the city.

Bến Tre Province reported 25 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the total number of cases in the province to 290.

COVID-19 negative test certificates

Some localities in the Mekong Delta require truck drivers to present SARS-CoV-2 negative test certificates in order to enter COVID-19 checkpoints.

Trang Trường Thanh, deputy director of Sóc Trăng Province’s transport department, said only truck drivers transporting essential goods and their staff accompanying them who have SARS-CoV-2 negative testing certificates are allowed to move within the province or engage in inter-provincial travel.

Truck drivers without a SARS-CoV-2 negative test results are forced to turn around.

In Tiền Giang Province, drivers of trucks carrying essential goods within the province are not required to present testing certificates, but must enter the province from other cities and provinces.

Under the health ministry’s guidelines, truck drivers and accompanying staff who carry essential goods within locked-down areas that are under Government Directive 16 regulations are not required to test for SARS-CoV-2. —VNS