Hanoi re-enters battle against Covid-19 after detecting first local infection

Hanoi’s mayor Nguyen Duc Chung has asked the local authorities to reactivate a system to fight against the pandemic after thousands of people returned from Danang, home to the first locally-transmitted infections of coronavirus in more than three months.

Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee at the meeting on July 29. Photo: Dan Tri

First of all, quick testing will be taken during three days until August 1 to more than 21,000 people who returned from Danang, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said at a meeting Wednesday after one man was found positive with Covid-19 after returning from Danang.

“We have to act now and act fast,” Chung said in a statement on the city’s website.

All people who made contact (F1) with the Covid-19 patient need to be quarantined while those who are in connection with F1 are required to undergo home isolation and test for the coronavirus if needed.

The Hanoi Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was asked to assume responsibilities for the testing and ensuring sufficient medical supplies.

Quick testing is one of precautionary measures that Hanoi had taken before when risk of community transmission was visible in the city.

Secondly, all crowd-gathering activities like festivals, sports, and bars will not be allowed.

Wearing face masks in public places and on public means of transport are now a must.

In addition, steering committees in charge of Covid-19 prevention and control at district and commune levels must go on with the protective measures.

Chung stressed the importance of the outbreak control at schools to keep more than 2.2 million schoolchildren in the city safe.

He said the city needs to get ready for fighting against the pandemic in a new stage that is predicted to be tougher than the previous one.

In earlier stages of the battle against the novel coronavirus, Hanoi had effectively implemented a number of measures and kept the city free from virus, enabling it to develop the economy.

Earlier, the city’s Party chief Vuong Dinh Hue said that it was necessary to implement the government’s request on social distancing like a wartime order. He emphasized that nothing rather than strict implementation of social distancing would be the best way to mitigate damage caused by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, mayor Chung repeatedly talked about the importance of protective measures namely quarantine, testing on a large scale, and zoning high-risk areas to stop the spread of the virus.