The Health Ministry has announced two Covid-19 patients, all linked to current hotspots in Vietnam, raising the nation’s total count to 964.
“Patient 963” is a 30-year-old man in the northern province of Hai Duong. On August 3, he had dinner at a local beef restaurant where four staff were later diagnosed with Covid-19. His samples were collected following a contact tracing process and the result came as positive on Sunday.
“Patient 964” is a 49-year-old woman in Quang Nam Province which borders epicenter Da Nang. On July 11, she came to a wedding at a restaurant on Duy Tan Street of Da Nang. The restaurant was later linked to a number of Covid-19 cases. She was tested and confirmed a Covid-19 case on Sunday.
Same strain
The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said Sunday that the virus on the first locally transmitted case in Hai Duong, a 63-year-old man tagged as “patient 867,” is of the same strain with the one in Da Nang.
In late July, the Health Ministry said the new coronavirus responsible for the return of community transmissions, with first cases detected in Da Nang, belongs to a new, more contagious strain of foreign origin. Experts have yet to confirm whether the new strain’s virulence is greater than that of previous variants. Yet doctors also said that the Hai Duong outbreak is not linked to the one in Da Nang.
The two new cases have brought Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally to 964, including 484 active cases, 456 recoveries, and 24 fatalities.
Of the total cases since the beginning of the pandemic, 336 are imported ones who were quarantine upon entering Vietnam and the rest are domestic infections.
Since July 25 when community transmissions returned to Vietnam after three months, 488 of such cases have been recorded at 15 cities and provinces, including Hanoi and HCMC.
Most locally transmitted infections so far are linked to the outbreak in Da Nang, which has recorded 344 cases.
For now, more than 107,000 that had either returned from abroad or come into close contact with infected cases are in quarantine.
Worldwide, more than 772,600 Covid-19 patients have died.
By Le Nga @ VNExpress