Health officials spray disinfectant around the home of the latest COVID-19 patient in Liên Chiểu District, Đà Nẵng City on July 24. Viet Nam News/Asia News Network
DA NANG — A 57-year-old man in Đà Nẵng has been confirmed as positive for coronavirus, marking the first case of community transmission of COVID-19 in Vietnam in 100 days.
Acting minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long announced the news at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention this morning with the Government.
The patient who lives in the central city’s Liên Chiểu District had three positive tests on July 23 and 24.
The result of the fourth test from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology also came back positive.
It is unclear how the man, who is now on a ventilator, contracted the virus.
The last community transmission of the SAR-CoV-2 virus in Vietnam was on April 16.
According to the Ministry of Health, the patient has remained at home in Liên Chiểu District for the past month and didn’t travel out of town.
On July 7, he went to take care of his mother at Ngũ Hành Sơn health center in Đà Nẵng.
On July 16, he went to visit his mother after she was moved to Đà Nẵng Hospital.
On July 17, he developed a fever and felt unwell. On the evening of the same day, he went to a cousin’s house for dinner. On July 18, he went to a wedding at the For You Palace on 2-9 Road in Đà Nẵng.
On July 20, his fever had not abated and he developed a cough. He went for a check-up at Đà Nẵng C Hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia and was hospitalized. His samples were taken for COVID-19 testing and were found to be positive twice.
At least 105 people that had contact with the man have tested negative for COVID-19, Minister Long said.
The Ministry of Health sent a team of professionals to Đà Nẵng to help with quarantine the same day while Chợ Rẫy Hospital in Hồ Chí Minh City has also sent highly skilled doctors to the central city to aid the treatment of the patient.
The ministry will conduct mass screening of at-risk areas in Đà Nẵng, using quick test kits made in Vietnam.
In an attempt to prevent the risk, authorities have decided that flights bringing Vietnamese back from other countries as well as those carrying overseas experts to Đà Nẵng will be redirected to another location.
Đà Nẵng is still a major tourist attraction for domestic tourists and prior to today had not recorded a COVID-19 case since April.
Of the 416 cases in Vietnam, as many as 365 patients have been given the all-clear for the coronavirus, while the rest are being treated at medical establishments across the country. No deaths have been recorded.
There are currently 11,815 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or entering Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions being quarantined, including 147 at hospitals, 10,993 at other facilities, and 675 at home.