Health Minister directs to control Covid-19 quickly

On his mission trip along with a health worker team from the Ministry of Health to the Northern Province of Quang Ninh yesterday, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long directed local health sector to control Covid-19 quickly.
Illustrative photo (Photo: SGGP)
Illustrative photo (Photo: SGGP)
After listening to reports of local administrations, Health Minister Long said that the two outbreaks in districts Van Don and Dong Trieu in Quang Ninh Province are basically under control thanks to fast handling and tracking. He highly appraised the provincial efforts to reduce the development of Covid-19 as well as hailed all forces which have been working around the clock to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Mr. Long proposed Quang Ninh provincial administration to maintain zoning and tracking measures as well as take samples for testing to minimize the development of Covid-19. Additionally, he said, the provincial authority can adopt loose lockdown in the residential quarter where patient 1,553 after all close contacts F1 have been found and isolated.
The Ministry’s mission team gave 55 ventilators, one RT-PCR testing machine, one mobile scan machine, 5,000 personal protective equipment and 2,000 test biological products for testing to support the province’s battle against Covid-19.
Quang Ninh Province People’s Committee Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hanh said at the meeting with mission team from the ministry that from January 27 when the first case of Covid-19 community transmission patient 1,553 - an employee of Van Don Airport - was confirmed, the province has recorded 47 positive cases and tracked 104,233 close contacts including 3,454 contact F1 and the remaining people are F2, F3 and F4. The local health sector has carried out 53,869 tests so far.
In related news of Covid-19, leading experts provided telemedicine nationwide for treatment consultation as per requirements of medical facilities. At the remote diagnosing and teleconsulting, Professor Nguyen Gia Binh, leader of the team, said that there has been fewer critical Covid-19 patients in this new wave of local infections yet people shouldn’t have relaxed behavior.
Statistically, 116 patients are being treated in the makeshift hospital established in University of Medical Technique Hai Duong and two of them are in critical condition and two of others are suffering fever. In the makeshift infirmary in medical center in Chi Linh City of the Norther Province of Hai Duong, 30 patients are suffering lung damage and breathing problems. Noticeably, 79-year-old patient 1,536 returning to Vietnam from the US has been treated for 25 days but she is still in critical condition as she has underlying conditions including hypertension.
Reporting Covid-19 development in the Northern Province of Dien Bien, Professor Dao Xuan Co – Deputy Director of Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital said that a 300-bed makeshift hospital located in the local medical center was set up within 16 hours. Scores of medical equipment including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and ventilators were transported from Bach Mai hospital to Dien Bien Province.
Moreover, over 30 experts and medical workers from Bach Mai Hospital, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Ministry’s Examination and Treatment Department and the Department of Preventive Medicine arrived in Dien Bien Province to assist the local health sector in the fight against Covid-19.
Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally increased to 2,005 after four additional employees of Tan Son Nhat was tested positive for the deadly virus. The northern province of Hai Duong reported 19 more community-transmitted cases of Covid-19 while the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai recorded one the same day, according to the National Steering Board for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

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