Addressing a national virtual meeting held on Friday morning on COVID-19, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long warned that the ongoing COVID-19 wave, with the presence of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, is much more serious than previous ones, thus imposing much more negative impacts on the people’s lives and the national socio-economic development. The previous coronavirus waves lasted only 30 - 45 days.

In reality, the Delta variant, also known as B. 1.617, was first detected last year in India, where it has been ravaging the nation and has since spread to dozens of other countries, upending plans for a return to normalcy.

The Delta variant could spread two to three times faster than the original coronavirus. It could attach tightly to host cells, rapidly multiply in large numbers in the cells and then destroy the cells, and spread pathogens to the environment in a short time, Long explained, adding that a person could now infect others only two days after catching the virus, not five as before.

In particular, Minister Long blamed the fast spread of the Delta variant partly on the fact that certain localities have failed to enforce the Prime Minister’s Directive 16 in a serious manner.

Localities, therefore, need to review their COVID-19 scenarios and gear up for more complex situations, the minister said, asking them to ready quarantine sites in which cross infection must be minimised as the Delta variant is highly transmissible.

In light of the complicated and widespread pandemic situation with the number of cases remaining on upward trend, the Ministry of Health has made some fundamental adjustments, including the issuance of updated guidelines on the mandatory quarantine period and details of a pilot home quarantine scheme for people who came into direct contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

According to the guidelines, which local governments are supposed to observe, the time of medical quarantine is decreased from 21 days to 14 days for direct contacts of confirmed COVID-19 patients and foreign arrivals, except for arrivals for business purposes with duration of stay shorter than 14 days, and other cases of entries in accordance with other regulations of the Immigration Department and the National Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. However, they would need to continue to monitor their health status for the next 14 days.

The reduction of isolation time is risky, but the risk acceptance is low, assured the Ministry of Health.

The health ministry also told local governments to consider conducting trials of home quarantine of F1 cases, hold training and provide instructions via video clips or other materials, strictly and frequently manage the isolation processes to ensure disease prevention and control.

In addition, the Ministry of Health has also changed its testing strategy in high-risk areas. Accordingly, quick tests would be used predominantly rather than PCR tests so positive  cases would be detected and isolated sooner. Quick tests help reduce time, optimise testing, and release results quickly, thus helping to put those infected with COVID-19 under isolation from the community as soon as possible.

Regarding the treatment of COVID-19 patients, Minister Long informed that the Ministry of Health has made changes to COVID-19 treatment strategy. Patients with light illness or asymptomatic ones are treated in primary healthcare facilities designed to receive COVID-19 patients.

Patients with symptoms would be transferred to health facilities and those with serious illnesses would be taken to general hospitals or field hospitals.

Asymptomatic patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 twice but have a low viral load, known as a cycle threshold (CT) below 30, can be discharged from the hospital without 14 days of quarantine due to the low likelihood they will spread the virus to others. The patients are asked to monitor their health at their residence for 14 days.

SARS-Cov-2 positive cases detected in the community with a CT value of at least 30 will be re-tested after 24 hours. If their CT value remains over 30 after the second test, they don’t need to stay in the hospital but can monitor their health from home.

“We recommend that localities set up ICU treatment areas at field hospitals so that they can improve capacity when needed and reduce cross-contamination in hospitals,” said Minister Long.

With regard to COVID-19 vaccination, he said Viet Nam has successfully negotiated for about 170 million vaccine doses supplied by different sources.

In the short term, vaccines will be prioritised for the provinces and cities currently hit by the pandemic, along with major socio-economic hubs, so as to concurrently curb the outbreaks and maintain economic development, Long added

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by A.T