Covid-19 weekly update in Vietnam - Week 3 August, 2021
Despite much effort by medical staff and local authorities, the new cases in Vietnam, precisely in two important cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, seem to be rising dramatically. Stricter directives are bound to be passed with the aim to prevent any new expansion.
GENERAL SUMMARY
By far, the statistics summarized by the Ministry of Health have increased a lot more and show no sign of reduction.
Meanwhile, the forces of vaccination still do their best to keep pace with the on-going pandemic. They have successfully given injections to a great number of citizens, specifically 25% of Hanoi and over 50% of Ho Chi Minh City. Other provinces also reach the brink of 10 - 40% of local habitants getting vaccinated.
As directive 16 is being applied for most provinces and cities in Vietnam, the authorities have also announced the criterias to consider when a region can be a safe zone.
- The number of new infections per week should decrease by 50% at minimum compared to the previous week. This result must be confirmed for at least 2 weeks consecutively.
- In 14 days, there should be a consecutive decrease in the number of individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV in public by the method RT-PCR
- The region does not confirm any new infection zone within 7 days
- The groups that risk being infected should decrease by 50% minimum for local districts and communes with great risk, high risk and medium risk
- There should be a decrease by 50% at minimum for districts or communes that are considered groups with great - high - medium risk level. HCMC will be applied with only 30% at minimum for the similar groups.
During the past week, the province of Da Nang had a report on a new mutation of the virus. It is said that this new type, called type G, can spread more rapidly. The G-type virus is known to be existing in several western countries, so it is not unfamiliar to the globe. Currently, this newly-found type hasn’t been confirmed of its virulence and spreading ability. The scientists will focus on learning about this type to come to a final report on full information of it.
HANOI PANDEMIC UPDATE
The capital of Hanoi, even after having enhanced the restrictions, the number of new infections per day still haven’t shown any sign of decreasing. This number continues to stay at around 50-70 cases per day. They were detected both in quarantine and in public. The authorities then prolonged the isolation until the 6th September, after the National Day (2nd September) to prevent any gathering, which might lead to a new infection chain.
At the same time, the capital also continues to find and isolate red zones in public. The quick action of local authorities and the government will help reduce daily new infections. Meanwhile, as the city is under lockdown, this is considered as a perfect time to operate another wide range Covid test and vaccination. The city has ordered to vaccinate 13 groups of individuals with high risk of being infected as below:
In our previous updates, Hanoi is building a new facility to serve as a field hospital in Hoang Mai district to treat severe cases among patients. Citizens are happy to know that the hospital will soon be in service as the construction has reached the final stage of completion.
The field hospital moving to the last stage of completion - Source: Báo tin tức
After a short while, Ho Chi Minh City confirmed a sharp increase of new patients found in public. The local authorities assumed that this had been the result of citizens not following strictly the directives of social isolation. Plus, most cases were in narrow residences and small areas (alleys, inns, or within families), where it is likely to be hard for citizens to obey the 5K restrictions.
A street filled with people at a disease control checkpoint - Source: VnExpress
The city also continues the social distancing for 1 month in addition, which pushes the whole period of isolation up to 3 months by far. The lives of Ho Chi Minh Citizens are getting much more difficult if there aren’t any positive changes soon.
As for the treatment for patients of Coronavirus, the doctors are still working hard to offer the best healthcare service to all. Recently, Ho Chi Minh City and southern provinces have received 30.000 vials of medication called Remdesivir. This medication is used to treat serious or degrading cases. It is said that Remdesivir can help reduce the recovering process of the patients as well as reduce the risk of death in severe cases. The Remdesivir medication has been added in the treatment process of 50 countries including the U.S, EU, Australia, JApan, Singapore, etc.
Remdesivir used for patients - Source: Bộ Y Tế
At the same time, from 160 to 200 patients of Coronavirus with mild symptoms have been being treated at field hospitals while being tested with the use of an antiviral medication called Molnupiravir. Some countries on the globe have finished the 2nd and 3rd face of the medication test (U.S, India). According to their reports, after 5 days of using the new medication on mild cases, the patients tend to show signs of better recovery: reduction on virus concentration, reduction on possibility of expansion in public, reduction on risk of death, etc. Still, in order to ensure the highest safety level, the doctors in HCMC initiated the campaign of Molnupiravir starting from 16 August to 22 August only. The final result will help doctors and authorities decide what is best for all patients.
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Stay in touch with Trusted DMC for more weekly updates on Vietnam’s pandemic and tourism situation
* Source: VnExpress, HCDC, Sở Y Tế, Báo Lao động, Báo Tuổi trẻ, Báo Tiền phong, Vietnamnet.
Published on 23rd August, 2021
Written and designed by Khanh Le, Assistant Manager for Trusted DMC
Previous weeks updates
- Week 2, August 2021
- Week 1, August 2021