Da Nang speeds up mass Covid-19 testing of high-risk community

Residents of the neighborhood where three Covid-19 patients were recently confirmed queue up two meters apart to have their samples taken for Covid-19 testing.

This was the first time medics have mass tested a community as infections soar across the city, mostly linked to Da Nang Hospital.

12 health workers, covered in protective gear and face shields, screen residents round the clock. At the end of each shift, they help disinfect each other with alcohol.

In a high-risk alley off Le Huu Trac Street, where a 71-year-old patient was infected with Covid-19, residents queue to receive numbered sample tubes prepared by medical staff.

Since July 25, when community transmissions resurfaced in Vietnam after more than three months, Da Nang has become the new virus epicenter after reporting 142 cases. These result have prompted local authorities to rapidly mass test locals for Covid-19 to contain its spread.

A medic takes pharyngeal and nasal swabs from a baby for Covid-19 screening.

A medic reminds a resident to queue two meters from another in accordance with social distancing measures while distributing sample tubes.

The city of 1.1 million began a 15-day period of social distancing on July 28, which requires residents to stay at home and maintain a distance of at least two meters from each other in public.

Medics take a water break.

The government admitted Sunday it had failed to determine the origin of the outbreak in tourism hotspot Da Nang. Since July 1, 800,000 visitors had left the city for other parts of the country.

The Da Nang Center for Disease Control said it has increased screening capacity to nearly 5,000 samples a day, up from the previous 3,500.

Medical officials in Da Nang have conducted 8,247 coronavirus tests since July 25, when the city reported the country's first community transmission case after more than three months.

Testing capacity will be increased to 8,000-10,000 per day, city authorities promised.