There are 103 concentrated quarantine centres across HaiDuong at the present, including 29 in the hardest-hit Chi Linh city, 27 in KinhMon town, and 16 in Cam Giang district.
Some experts from the Ministry of Health voiced seriousconcern over a high risk of cross infection at poorly-managed concentratedquarantine facilities in Hai Duong during a virtual meeting with the provincialParty Committee and town- and district-level administrations in COVID-19response on February 14.
A day later, Secretary of the provincial Party CommitteePham Xuan Thang requested stricter preventive measures against COVID-19 inlocal lockdown areas and quarantined centres. District top leaders must takeresponsibility and will be disciplined if more cross infections are founded in concentratedquarantined centres, he said.
The provincial Party Committee’s Standing Board has alsoissued a directive assigning the local military to take up management of quarantinefacilities accommodating more than 100 people, and cooperate with localauthorities to manage those housing less than 100 people. The directive also askedMilitary Zone 3 to allow the use of military facilities and schools in HaiDuong for quarantine purpose.
As of 3:00pm on February 16, the northern provinceconfirmed a total of 539 COVID-19 cases across all 12 districts and towns. OnFebruary 16 alone, the province reported 40 new cases. Meanwhile, 64 patientshave been given the all-clear
In Hanoi, local authorities have been tracing contacts ofa Japanese man who was found dead in Somerset West Point Hotel in Tay Hodistrict four days ago and later tested positive for COVID-19.
On his visit to check on the quarantined hotel onFebruary 16, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue asked forcoordination between the municipal Department of Health and the district’sadministration to determine the cause of his death and the source of infection.They were also tasked to continue enforcing strict quarantine rules and quicklytracing direct (F1) and indirect (F2) contacts.
According to Director of the municipal Department ofHealth Nguyen Khac Hien, the department has collaborated with Tay Ho districtto trace 63 F1 contacts of the Japanese man, two of whom had already testedpositive for the novel coronavirus while the remainder negative; and 116 F2contacts, all of whom tested negative for the virus./.