Vietnam reports more Covid-19 cases as HCM City sets up task forces, increases testing capacity to 1 million a day

HANOI, July 2 (Vietnam News-ANN/Xinhua): Vietnam reported 545 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Friday, including 527 locally transmitted and 18 imported, bringing the total tally to 18, 121.

The Ministry of Health said that among the community cases, 419 were reported in the southern Ho Chi Minh City, 40 in the central Phu Yen province and 13 in the southern Binh Duong province.

Most of them are contacts of previously confirmed cases or linked to the clusters of infections in the localities.

Nationwide, 7, 395 Covid-19 patients in total have recovered from the pandemic, up 148 from Thursday, the ministry said.

The ministry also said on Friday that three more Covid-19 patients with underlying conditions had died, raising the total number of deaths related to the coronavirus epidemic in the South-East Asian country to 84.

As of Friday (July 2), Vietnam has registered a total of 16, 285 domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases, including 14, 715 detected since the start of the latest outbreak in late April, according to the health ministry.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities have tightened Covid-19 prevention measures by setting up 25 task forces in 21 districts and Thu Duc City, and improving testing capacity to one million samples per day.

The task forces led by the Department of Health will focus on high-risk areas such as industrial parks, export processing zones and high-tech zones.

Twenty-two of the task forces will work with leaders of People’s Committees in city districts and Thu Duc City to enhance prevention measures in those areas. The other three task forces will support management boards in export processing zones, industrial parks and high-tech parks, including the Quang Trung Software Park.

Task force members include representatives of the health department, the HCM City Centre for Disease Control (HCDC), students at medical universities, and members of youth unions.

Over the next two weeks, the health department will improve testing capacity to 1 million a day, especially in isolation and locked-down areas, to prevent cross-infection in these areas.

The city is piloting a programme to conduct rapid testing in the high-risk areas in order to detect positive cases as early as possible.