On Friday morning, about 500 employees who work at discos, karaoke, spas and massage parlors across Son Tra District, Da Nang had their throat and nose swab samples taken for COVID-19 testing at the Ly Nam De Street-located Chi Lang Primary School. These service facilities are now placed at a high risk of infections as they were linked to recently-confirmed COVID-19 patients.

A medical worker collects a nose swab from a woman working in a service facility in Son Tra District. Photo: L.HUNG

All the employees were required to strictly comply with the city's measures to control COVID-19, including making health declarations, wearing facemasks, disinfecting their hands, keeping a distance from others and joining the queue whilst waiting for their turns to have their samples taken.

In addition, they were asked to stay at home pending their test results which are expected to be released tomorrow, May 8.

The group testing method will be applied using Realtime RT-PCR technique. Testing samples from many people at once, this method is the fastest and cheapest way to increase novel coronavirus screening 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.

For more explanations, instead of testing one person at a time, samples from multiple individuals would be 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.

However, suspected cases or close contacts of COVID-19 cases are still individually tested for the most straightforward results.

Functional forces measure the body temperature of a man before sample taking. Photo: L.HUNG

Medical staff re-check personal information of the employees before sample taking. Photo: L.HUNG

Medical staff are very careful in taking swab samples. Photo: L.HUNG

All the employees were required to strictly comply with safety measures against COVID-19 whilst waiting for their turns to have their samples taken. Photo: L.HUNG

The people standing in line whilst waiting for their turns to have their samples taken. Photo: L.HUNG

After swab taking, the people must to stay at home pending their test results which are expected to be released tomorrow, May 8.

Reporting by LE HUNG- Translating by A.T