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Vietnam should prepare for 30,000 Covid-19 cases, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam
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In two weeks, Vietnamese will celebrate Tet Holiday, an occasion for family reunions that will see millions travel home.
Vietnam should prepare for 30,000 COVID-19 cases, state television said, citing the coronavirus taskforce chief, after the country reported its biggest daily number of new infections on Thursday and ended a 55-day run without a local case.
Related: Vietnam records 82 community-based coronavirus cases in a single day
Deputy Prime Minister and taskforce head Vu Duc Dam said the two northern provinces where 83 cases were found should put measures in place to contain the spread, speed up contact-tracing and prepare for the scenario of 30,000 cases, state broadcaster VTV reported.
In the coming days, there will be reports of many cases but that shouldn’t be cause for panic, Dam said, as the testing range has expanded considerably.
In two weeks, Vietnamese will celebrate their biggest festival of the year, Lunar New Year, an occasion for family reunions that will see millions travel home.
Also read: Vietnam and New Zealand top COVID performance ranking in global survey
Vietnam, which has used targeted testing and a centralized quarantine program to successfully contain the coronavirus. As of January 28, the country has recorded 1,635 cases, 167 of them active, with 35 deaths.