Up to 80% of newly-infected Covid-19 patients in Vietnam have shown no symptoms, making it difficult for local authorities to detect new cases and carry out preventive measures, according to the Ministry of Health.
On the morning of February 3, Vietnam recorded nine new community cases. Up to 310 cases have been reported since January 27.
Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Administration of Medical Examination and Treatment said they had surveyed 240 patients and realised that 80% of them didn’t show any symptoms. As of now, one patient was in critical condition, three need to use oxygen and 20 have clinical developments.
“If we only test people that have coughing or breathing difficulties symptoms, we’ll miss many infected cases so we must check their medical history carefully,” he said.
Vien Chinh Chien, director of the Central Highlands Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said the patients in Gia Lai also didn’t show symptoms. The new variant spreads 70% faster than others so it’s very easy to miss infected people.
Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long asked locality authorities to be flexible in dealing with the new outbreak, test more widely and trace contacts more quickly. He also asked to lock down various outbreak spots in Dong Trieu, Quang Ninh. Coal mine workers should be allowed to stay home after one worker was tested positive and 8,000 workers were quarantined. Long has ordered testing for all the workers.
The doctors at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi will review and provide help to medical stations, especially given the worsening health of six patients. Long demanded 200,000 residents in Dong Trieu be tested soon.
Transporting samples should be limited and more test sites should be put up for quicker results and biosafety.
In order to prevent infection inside hospitals, Bach Mai Hospital has prepared two X-Ray trucks to screen the patients outdoors. Nguyen Quang Tuan, director of Bach Mai Hospital, said they would test all patients before admitting them.
This article was originally published on Dtinews
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Source: Vietnam Insider