In his meeting with the Da Nang Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Friday afternoon, municipal People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh urged contact tracers to track down all contacts of a new COVID-19 case in the city in a bid to promptly identify and isolate them.

Vice Chairman also called for continued monitoring of steps taken for COVID-19 management with a focus on enhancing surveillance on all arrivals and vehicles entering the city.

Municipal People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh delivers his instructions at the Friday meeting. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

A new case of COVID-19 was detected in Da Nang on Friday afternoon, ending a 30-day streak without recording any community transmission, sparking a scramble to stop any further community spread.

The municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Friday afternoon announced a 59-year- old man, a resident of Thanh Khe District who has worked as a security guard at the Duy Tan Plastic Company located at 145 Dien Bien Phu Street, Chinh Gian Ward, Thanh Khe District, had tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Ton That Thanh, the Director of the Da Nang Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that the man was likely to contract the new coronavirus from one driver in Ho Chi Minh City who subsequently tested positive for the virus in his city. The Da Nang man came in close contact with the Ho Chi Minh infected patient on June 10 when the driver carried the goods to the Duy Tan Plastic Company where the Da Nang man work for.

Vice Chairman Minh asked health officials to work closely with relevant agencies, including media agencies, to keep the public informed of this new case and its contacts, exposure sites, tracing and testing for the close contacts with timely and accurate updates to enable effective responses to COVID-19.

“For the time being, we must act swiftly to identify, isolate and test the close contacts. The faster we can trace contacts, the faster we can stop the spread of the virus”, Vice Chairman Minh emphasised.

The city leader demanded the functional forces to tighten controls at points of entry to the city, and enhance oversight of new arrivals and all vehicles entering Da Nang. 

Mr Minh also noted that leaders of organizations and businesses must play a key role in monitoring all their visitors from other Vietnamese localities, and must bear full responsibility for COVID-19 transmissions caused by their visitors.

The functional forces on Friday afternoon were deployed to a checkpoint at the residential setting where family of new COVID-19 patient is living. Photo: MT

Health officials have also announced the travel and contact history of the 48-year-old driver of a lychee carrying truck hailing from Quy Hop District in Nghe An Province. The driver, along with his wife and his son, sold lychees in Da Nang whist he was infectious.

Health authorities are scrambling to find all contacts after it was revealed on Saturday morning the five more locally acquired coronavirus cases from Da Nang match the sequence of the 59-year- old security guard.

The five new cases are mainly the man’s household contacts who are his wife, children and grandchildren, along with one of his friends.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by H.L