Staff of the international health quarantine centre of Quang Ninh province examine the body temperature of people from China via a thermal scanner at Mong Cai Border Gate (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – DeputyPrime Minister Vu Duc Dam chaired an urgent meeting in Hanoi on January 24 inresponse to the acute respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (nCoV)strain.
The Deputy PM noted the nCoV epidemicfirst appeared in Wuhan city of China in December 2019. Vietnam is one of thecountries with a high risk of being affected by this disease as it has a longborderline, frequent exchanges and large trading with China, especially duringthe Lunar New Year holiday when the travel demand surges.
The two cases testedpositive for nCoV in the southern region are just initial results since theWorld Health Organisation (WHO) said this is a new disease for which there hasn’tbeen a standard testing method. Some other suspected cases are being kept underclose monitoring, their samples are being tested and results will be announcedas soon as they are available, he said.
Dam cited international experts as warning that nCoV haslimited human-to-human transmission, but as Vietnam shares a long borderlinewith China, a higher level warning should be issued for the country.
He ordered the immediate implementation of health declarationat all points of entry, especially for people from Wuhan.
Dam requested relevantagencies to strictly manage persons with fever and advise people against goingto nCoV-affected areas, including Wuhan and Huanggang cities of China, and countries and territories reporting infection cases.
The Deputy PM saidthe Health Ministry’s emergency operations centre has been activated to preventnCoV from spreading. He also urged strong actions to protect health workersfrom being infected with the virus from patients and provide sufficient andprecise information for the public.
Kidong Park, a WHOrepresentative in Vietnam, said people should not worry too much about thedisease. However, those with coughing and fever symptoms should proactively cometo medical establishments to have examinations.
The WHO willcoordinate closely with the Government and the Health Ministry of Vietnam to preventand control the nCoV-caused disease, he added.
Earlier, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a note to ministries,sectors and localities, requesting them to redouble efforts in the face of thedisease.
Thetwo cases tested positive for nCoV in Vietnam are Chinese citizens who have been quarantined at Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho RayHospital.
Li Ding, 66, went to Hanoi from Wuhan onJanuary 13, before going to Nha Trang city in central Khanh Hoa province, saidDr Nguyen Ngoc Sang of the Cho Ray Hospital’s Department of Tropical Diseases.
His son Li Zichao, 28, who has lived in the Mekong Deltaprovince of Long An near HCM City for the past four months, went to visit himin Nha Trang. Both of them then traveled to HCM City and Long An, said Sang.
The father got fever on January 17, while the son had similarsymptoms January 20. Both were admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital on January 22night.
The Deputy PM saidthe Health Ministry’s emergency operations centre has been activated to preventnCoV from spreading. He also urged strong actions to protect health workersfrom being infected with the virus from patients and provide sufficient andprecise information for the public.
Kidong Park, a WHOrepresentative in Vietnam, said people should not worry too much about thedisease. However, those with coughing and fever symptoms should proactively cometo medical establishments to have examinations.
The WHO willcoordinate closely with the Government and the Health Ministry of Vietnam to preventand control the nCoV-caused disease, he added.
Earlier, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a note to ministries,sectors and localities, requesting them to redouble efforts in the face of thedisease.
Thetwo cases tested positive for nCoV in Vietnam are Chinese citizens who have been quarantined at Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho RayHospital.
Li Ding, 66, went to Hanoi from Wuhan onJanuary 13, before going to Nha Trang city in central Khanh Hoa province, saidDr Nguyen Ngoc Sang of the Cho Ray Hospital’s Department of Tropical Diseases.
His son Li Zichao, 28, who has lived in the Mekong Deltaprovince of Long An near HCM City for the past four months, went to visit himin Nha Trang. Both of them then traveled to HCM City and Long An, said Sang.
The father got fever on January 17, while the son had similarsymptoms January 20. Both were admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital on January 22night.
A pneumonia outbreak, caused by a new strain of the coronavirus family that caused SARS and MERS, first surfaced in Wuhan city, China last December.
The disease has spread to many other countries and territories. China's National Health Commission has confirmed 541 infection cases and 17 deaths as of January 23.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that the new coronavirus could be contagious between humans.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has warned people to keep their distance from people with acute respiratory infections and wear a mask when talking to them. Equipment to monitor arriving passengers’ body temperature have been installed at airports in Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang and Cam Ranh in central Vietnam./.
VNA
