Vietnam's single day community transmission tally jumps to record high

By Le Nga, Giang Chinh, Le Hoang, Ba Do, Van Hai January 28, 2021 | 06:14 am PT

An ambulance of the Le Chan District's Center for Preventative Medicine in Hai Phong City takes those who have been in close contact with a coronavirus case in Quang Ninh Province to centralized quarantine camps, January 28, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Chinh.

Three northern Vietnam localities recorded 14 Covid-19 local cases Thursday evening, bringing the total confirmed community transmissions in a single day to 98.

Dang Quang Tan, head of the General Department of Preventative Medicine under the Ministry of Health, said Hai Duong Province recorded an additional 11 Covid-19 local cases Thursday evening, bringing the total confirmed community cases in the province to 84.

Quang Ninh recorded two additional cases, bringing the total confirmed community cases in the province to 13, according to the provincial Department of Health.

In Hai Phong, the municipal Department of Health reported a positive case at the Hai Phong Children's Hospital Thursday. The child's mother is an employee worker of Vietnam Poyun Electronics in Hai Duong, where at least 73 community cases were confirmed Thursday morning. The mother tested negative, but the child tested positive three times.

Hai Phong authorities Thursday suspended bars and dance clubs in the city, and erected checkpoint stations around city entrances. Activities involving crowds of 30 or more people have also been banned, and students would stay home starting Friday.

So far, Hai Duong has collected over 4,200 Covid-19 test samples, 117 of them from Poyum employees.

Quang Ninh has managed to track down 851 people related to the confirmed case and taken samples from 609.

Vietnam's streak of no Covid-19 community transmission cases in nearly two months was broken Thursday morning in a big way with 84 cases confirmed in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, starting with a 34-year-old woman working for Vietnam Poyun Electronics in Hai Duong and a 31-year-old man who works at the Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh.

At least 10 other patients work at the airport with the man.

The 34-year-old woman in particular, a resident of Hung Dao Commune in Hai Duong’s Chi Linh Town, had come into close contact with a colleague who tested positive for the virus upon arriving in Japan last week. The colleague was later revealed to be infected by a coronavirus variant originating in the U.K., which is believed to be up to 70 percent more contagious than ordinary strains.

Hai Duong's Chi Linh, where the Poyun firm is located, has been placed under lockdown for 21 days starting Thursday noon.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said at a meeting Thursday afternoon he believed the infection must have been lurking in the city for at least 10 days.