Urgent announcement: One local infection case of Covid-19 confirmed

• VN confirms three new cases of Covid-19

The latest patient is a 32-year-old English male teacher in Ho Chi Minh City. He contracted the virus from his friend who is a flight attendant confirmed positive on Saturday and became patient 1,342.

The flight attendant returned to Viet Nam on November 14 and was sent to a quarantine facility managed by the national flag carrier Viet Nam Airlines in Ho Chi Minh City from November 14-18.

After two negative Covid-19 tests, he was allowed to go home for self-isolation at No. 50, Bach Dang Street, Ward 2, Binh Thanh District.

During his home isolation, he had contacts with his mothers and two friends, including the English teacher.

On November 28, the flight attendant was tested for the third time and the outcomes turned out that he was positive for the virus.

All the three people who came in contact with the flight attendant were immediately quarantined and tested. Only the English teacher was confirmed positive to date.

Preliminary epidemiological investigation showed that the teacher taught English at KEY English language center at No. 59, Nguyen Ba Tuyen Street, Ward 12, Tan Binh District and other centers in District 10. He also went to coffee shops and a karaoke parlor.

As many as 38 people who had come in contact with the English teacher are being quarantined and tested, said the ministry.

Speaking at a meeting on Monday evening, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long urged the HCMC Department of Health to quickly identify all F1 and F2 people and place them under concentrated quarantine.

Long also asked the Municipal Department of Health to inform those who had visited the relevant English centers, coffee shops and karaoke parlor to immediately contact the nearest medical establishment for advise.

All staff working at the coffee shops and karaoke parlor must be tested and self-isolate at home, Long ordered.

All the medical establishments in HCMC must raise levels of vigilance and strictly implement measures to prevent infections in these facilities.

The Ministry of Health-the standing body of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control demanded the Viet Nam Airlines seriously inspect the implementation of preventive measures at its quarantine facilities.

The same day, the Ministry of Health sent an urgent document to the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Health, and the People’s Committees of provinces and cities, asking them to tighten inspection and management of entrants as the pandemic is still evolving swiftly and complicatedly around the world.

With the new case, the country’s patient tally rose to 1,347, including 1,179 recoveries and 35 deaths./.

By Huong Giang

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