Hanoi to test people with cough and fever for coronavirus

Hanoi residents with signs of cough, fever, shortness of breath, or pneumonia are advised to go to medical facilities for RT-PCR testing, even if they didn't return from Danang, a Covid-19 epicenter, after July 15, the municipal government has said.

Hanoi has tested nearly 30,000 returning from the Covid-19 epicenter of Danang. Photo: LT

The dispatch was issued on August 18 by Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Ngo Van Quy, who now heads the city's steering committee for Covid-19 fight. The city Party Committee issued a similar document the same day.

As per the documents, the local government call for greater efforts to contain Covid-19 as the capital city has confirmed a total of 35 positive Covid-19 patients, including 11 of community infection and two cases of secondary transmission. It's noteworthy that some virus carriers were asymptomatic.

The documents underscore the urgent need to finalize testing all returnees from the central city of Danang to Hanoi by August 20, while promptly notifying local residents on their test results.

Authorities recommend that those who suffer from chronic diseases and are at high risk, in addition to the elderly, stay at home. Besides, it is imperative to fill out medical declarations in accordance with regulations.

In line with this, residents have been advised to adopt a range of preventive measures such as wearing facial masks when going out and avoiding large crowds of more than 30 people in public.

Furthermore, all staff at restaurants, cafes and pubs, are ordered to wear face masks, while customers must stay one meter apart from others from August 19. Service establishments, factories, and construction sites are also required to implement these measures.

Hospitals in Hanoi are asked to tighten monitoring and ensure safety for medical staff. Those failing to comply with the anti-pandemic measures will be closed.

Around 100,090 people had returned to Hanoi from Danang, the epicenter of the pandemic, since July 15, according to the municipal Steering Committee on Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

Since August 8, health authorities have taken samples of the people returning between July 15 and 29. 50,602 samples have been collected and sent to the testing units under the Ministry of Health by using RT-PCR method, of them 28,478 have come negative.

The capital city has recorded 13 infections in the community since July 25.