Da Nang People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh affirmed on Wednesday afternoon that 7-day home quarantine for returnees from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) doesn’t work in the city amid the complex developments of COVID-19.

Chairman Chinh chairs a meeting to discuss measures for receiving and quarantining returnees from HCMC in line with Official Letter issued by the Ministry of Health. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

Chairman Chinh demanded the health agency to make recommendations to the municipal government of appropriate measures for receiving and quarantining returnees from HCMC in accordance with Official Letter No. 5389/BYT-MT dated July 7 issued by the Ministry of Health.

"The HCMC government and its counterparts across the country will work together to reach agreement before sending migrant workers home in line with the guidelines from the Ministry of Health. The HCMC will make arrangements for transportation of migrant workers to home with proper precautions in place to prevent the spread of the virus”, Mr Chinh remarked. 

“Currently, while waiting for specific instructions from the Ministry of Health and before reaching a mutual agreement between the governments of HCMC and Da Nang, a 21-day quarantine is mandatory for returnees from HCMC and they must pay for it. It is as part of Da Nang’s strategy to reduce COVID-19 transmissions", Chairman Chinh emphasised.

The city government leader called on every one across Da Nang to take action to keep themselves and others safe during the pandemic by sticking to the best practices for infection prevention and control, staying compliant with the 5K recommendations of the Ministry of Health.

There have been no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Da Nang over recent days, proving that the city has managed effectively to suppress the pandemic.

However, the biggest threat to the Da Nang and local authorities are "all concerned about" in the city's fight against COVID are the risk of re-introduction or importation of SARS-CoV-2 into the city, Chairman Chinh said.

He urged functional forces to strengthen screening measures at points of entry, and enforce COVID-19 rules on all arrivals from COVID-19 affected areas in order to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission risks from them.

Da Nang has recorded no local cases for the two straight days from July 6-7, the Da Nang Centre for Disease Control’s figure shows. Thus, the total cases in Da Nang remain at 91 after the city experienced a resurgence of the virus on June 18.

Till date, Da Nang has already tracked down 705 primary close contacts of the infected patients, and put them under quarantine at designated facilities while local healthcare workers are putting in place close monitoring of more than 3,300 secondary close contacts at their places of residence.

Da Nang has to date quarantined 533 arrivals from affected areas at designated facilities and hotels.

The task force staffing checkpoints at entry points on Wednesday (July 7) conducted COVID-19 related stop checks on 32,724 vehicles entering the city, during which, 33vehicles were denied entry into Da Nang, 49,460 arrivals had their body temperature measured and were required to complete a compulsory health declaration form.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translanting by H.L