Vietnam records single day drop of 200 Covid-19 suspects

Of the 94, 86 had entered quarantine Friday, and all of them are now in hospitals, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) announced.

Vietnam defines suspected infections as those who return from stricken areas or have had direct contact with returnees from stricken areas and show symptoms of the Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Those classifed as suspects must be quarantined at hospitals specialized for Covid-19 treatment and tested twice for the virus.

Aside from quarantining suspects, Vietnam has placed many others under medical monitoring - those entering Vietnam from virus-hit areas or have met with infected people but have not showed any Covid-19 symptoms.

These people are routinely checked at entry ports before being sent to medical camps for a 14-day monitoring. Some people with low infection risks are quarantined at home, monitored and checked by local medical staff every day.

Anyone showing signs of Covid-19 symptoms like coughing or fever will then be placed in hospital quarantine. If they test negative for the coronavirus, they will undergo additional monitoring at home or a medical camp.

As of Saturday morning, there were more than 27,000 people placed under medical monitoring, more than half of them quarantined at home.

Vietnam has so far recorded 47 infection cases, with 31 added since Friday last week, after the country had gone 22 days without any new infection.

Previously, 16 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 145 countries and territories, killing more than 5,400 people.