The Da Nang People's Committee Chairman cum Head of the Da Nang Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, Mr Huynh Duc Tho, on Monday, himself, observed the entire process of taking swap samples for group testing from residents in Binh Thuan Ward, Hai Chau District at most risk of coronavirus resurgence.  He also went in-person to the municipal Centre for Disease Control (CDC)'s labs to inspect how the testing of the collected samples are conducted here.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho ( in white shirt) observing the taking of swap samples for group testing from residents in Binh Thuan Ward, Hai Chau District at most risk of coronavirus resurgence.

During his surprise inspection, Chairman Tho affirmed that Da Nang has been on the right track in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic with its drastic motto of contact tracing - isolating- testing - stamping out the virus completely.  Mr Tho underlined a must-do to ensure the full deployment of all workforce, medical supplies and biological products to respond to a second wave of Covid-19 infections.  

According to Doctor Ton That Thanh, the CDC’s Director, his unit is now equipped with 13 RT-PCR machines and 3 automatic extraction instruments for use in diagnosing Covid-19 or active coronavirus, with more than 300 employees available for conducting tests.

The sample reception area at the Da Nang CDC

On average, the CDC’s staff test a combined total of about 6,000 - 7,000 swab samples every day.

Currently, instead of testing one person at a time, samples from 5 individuals are mixed together and tested as one.  If the test comes back negative, everyone in the pool is clear.  If positive, each member of the pool is then tested individually-thus cutting down on the total number of tests.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho (second, left) inspecting the separation of the collected samples.

In his remarks on group testing, the municipal government chief highlighted the high effectiveness of this method increase Covid-19 testing capacity as it can save time, chemical reagents and money.  Placing swabs from multiple individuals in a single test gets more people diagnosed using fewer supplies.

He also urged functional local forces to speed up the tracing steps to detect F0 and F1 contacts in a prompt fasshion.

The epidemiological investigation and traceability of F1 contacts being conducted very urgently by the CDC’ staff

At a meeting on Monday on the Covid-19 prevention and control tasks, municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary Nguyen Van Quang also asked the all-level local authorities to thoroughly grasp the spirit of initiative and determination in repelling the deadly virus by taking more drastic and effective measures.

In his perspective on the ongoing Covid-19 resurgence in Da Nang, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son acknowledged, based on the recently-conducted epidemiological analysis, the city is currently on right track in gaining the control of the virus as laboratory-confirmed local community transmission cases are on gradual downward trend in spite of the higher amount of samples taken than previously. 

“Nevertheless, the pandemic is still very complicated and unpredictable, so it is high time for Da Nang to take more drastic measures in order to prevent further infections”, affirmed the Deputy Minister.

Municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary Nguyen Van Quang(left) and the Da Nang People's Committee Chairman cum Head of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, Mr Huynh Duc Tho co-chairing the Monday meeting on the Covid-19 prevention and control tasks

In order to strengthen the timely monitoring of suspected Covid-19 cases, the Da Nang Department of Health has urged medical facilities across the city to take samples for Covid-19 testing from anyone who appears to show such symptoms as cough and fever upon their arrival for normal medical examination and treatment procedures.

The collected samples will be sent to the CDC, the Da Nang Lung Hospital and the 199 Hospital under the Ministry of Public Security for Covid-19 testing.

Following the C Hospital recently coming back on stream, the Da Nang Rehabilitations and Orthopedics Hospital that linked to the latest Covid-19 outbreak has reopened to the public after a two-week lockdown. 

The lockdown was lifted after all patients, their caretakers and medical staff here had been tested negative for many times following the Vietnamese Ministry of Health guidelines.  Meanwhile, the Da Nang General Hospital remains under lockdown.

The Da Nang government is mulling over providing local families with tickets which allow them to go shopping at traditional markets for odd or even days in orders to limit crowds and gatherings, in line with the city's strict social distancing rules.  Market standholders will have to stockpile enough goods for two days and shoppers will be able to go to traditional markets twice a week.

All supermarkets will provide door-to-door delivery services for online and call orders from customers.
Health declarations and body temperature checks are now mandatory for everyone visiting traditional markets and supermarkets citywide.

A daily COVID-19 bulletin is available on Zalo or 1022 switchboard.

By PHAN CHUNG – Translated by A.T