The business capital of Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh to conduct a retest of all the foreign experts who entered the city to ensure the control of COVID-19.
Last Saturday, the city’s People’s Committee asked designated agencies to conduct a retest of all foreign experts who have entered Ho Chi Minh without providing the details of their arrival date.
The health sector was assigned by the committee to work with the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to organize a retest and help trace the foreign experts who have entered Ho Chi Minh.
The director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center of Disease Control (HCDC), Doctor Nguyen Tri Dung said that in recent days, the health sector has been closely monitoring some Japanese experts who entered the city from January 2021 up to the present.
To count, around 700 Japanese experts have arrived in Ho Chi Minh since the first of January this year wherein 200 are currently working in the city.
According to Dung, Ho Chi Minh’s Center of Disease has sent information about experts to the districts for verification, evaluation and samples as a preventive measure for COVID-19.
The re-testing has been decided after the death of “Patient 2229”, a 54-year old Japanese expert working for Mitsui Vietnam Co. Ltd.
The said patient arrived on January 17 at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and was quarantined in Ward 2 of the Tan Binh District from January 17 to 31, during which the patient was tested negative twice for the coronavirus.
This patient then later took a flight to Hanoi and underwent self-quarantine at Somerset West Point since 2 pm, February 1 to 13. He then went to work at the company’s branch in Hanoi and returned to his apartment every day until he was found dead around 7 pm on February 13 inside his Somerset West Point room.
He tested positive for the novel coronavirus however, the cause of death is yet to be determined.
Currently, foreigners entering Ho Chi Minh are quarantined for 14 days and are required to be tested at least twice during the period following the protocol.
According to the city’s People’s Committee, even though the city’s COVID-19 outbreak seems to be brought under control, there is still the risk of infection and spread of the virus especially when people from other nearby towns return to work after Tet (Lunar New Year Holiday).
