The meeting was convened after four communitytransmissions of COVID-19 were recorded on July 25 and 26 – three in Da Nangand one in Quang Ngai.
According to a report tabled at the meeting, tests arebeing conducted for around 4,000 staff members at three hospitals in Da Nang wherethe newly-detected patients had visited.
At the same time, 10,000 blood samples from thecommunity will also be collected for testing.
According to Acting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long,the ministry has yet to determine the source of the community transmission inDa Nang.
He said the virus strain detected in the new cases isdifferent from the five strains found earlier in the country, adding that theexact source of infection remains unknown but it was possibly imported in earlyJuly.
All places related to the new cases have beenisolated, which are the Da Nang Hospital, HospitalC Da Nang, and the Da Nang Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Hospital.
The ministry advised people who hadarrived in or left Da Nang as from July 1 to fill in medical declarations andinform the local authorities and health officials for health monitoring.
Addressing the meeting, Deputy PM Dam,who is also head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 pandemicprevention and control, underscored that all localities around the country muststrengthen preventive measures.
He stressed the need to fulfil twomajor targets - extinguishing the pandemic quickly and maintaining socialstability - and highlighted the significance of close coordination between medical,public security, and military forces./.