Dong Nai plans mass testing of residents after massive surge in Covid cases

The Dong Nai Center for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 291 cases on Tuesday morning, raising the province’s total infection tally in the fourth wave to 14,538, though some cases have yet to be confirmed by the Ministry of Health.

This means that the number of Covid-19 cases in the province, home to many industrial complexes, is 25 times the 574 recorded 30 days ago.

In response to this development, the provincial administration has said that apart from continuing social distancing measures until August 31, Dong Nai will test 2.1 million people, or 63 percent of its population.

The mass testing campaign will be carried out from now until the end of the month. It will be done based on the situation in each administrative area. In high-risk areas, including the capital town of Bien Hoa and the districts of Nhon Trach and Vinh Cuu, everyone will be tested every three or five days.

In areas with lower risk, each family will send a representative for testing.

All those detected with the novel coronavirus will be isolated and treated while their neighborhoods will be placed under lockdowns that will be lifted after "infections are separated from the rest of the community."

Nguyen Duc Son, deputy head of the Dong Nai Institute of Occupational Health and the Environment, said it was feasible for the province to carry out a mass testing campaign in two weeks because it will only focus on testing people in high-risk areas.

Since the ongoing wave hit Vietnam late April, the nation has recorded 289,276 community infections in 62 of its 63 cities and provinces.

Of these, 108,534 have recovered and 6,437 have died, including 102 in Dong Nai.