The Da Nang government has asked the municipal Department of Health and the municipal Centre for Disease Control to conduct COVID-19 testing for personnel staffing at polling places for the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level People's Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure, which is slated to take place on May 23.

Throat and nasal swab will be collected for COVID-19 testing from 8,784 members of Election Commission of Da Nang, 656 medical workers and 560 others staffing at the polling place. Tests on these people will be conducted from May 20 -22.

In addition, medical workers have been urged to take a nose and throat swab of people who are working in high-risk settings, and those living in high-risk places in Da Nang to test for COVID-19. Included are personnel working at the airport and railway station, road transportation workers such as taxi and bus drivers, stall holders in traditional markets, those living in residential settings linked to COVID-19 confirmed cases, along with those working in such places as bars, clubs, restaurants, karaokes, spas, massage parlors where people congregate closely are higher risk gatherings for coronavirus spread.

The heed has also been paid to collecting a nose and throat swab of those who have developed symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath within 14 days.

Test screening allows early identification and isolation of persons who are asymptomatic, presymptomatic, or have only mild symptoms and who might be unknowingly transmitting virus. Symptom screening and testing will help Da Nang identify people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, so that actions can be taken to stop the spread of the virus.

Reporting by TRONG HUY- PHAN CHUNG – Translating by H.L