Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen (centre, in black) gives certificates of merit to individuals and the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology for successfully cultivating and isolating the novel coronavirus (Photo: tuoitre.vn)
Hanoi (VNA) - Testsfor the novel coronavirus (nCoV) could be run at provincial hospitals in the near future, said Professor Dang Duc Anh,director of the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).
Before transferring thetechnology to conduct these tests, the NIHE would set uptraining courses and assess infrastructure, especially biological safetyin laboratories, he said.
Deputy Minister of Health DoXuan Tuyen noted that the transfer would be conducted only when hospitals hadassessed their infrastructure.
Last week, the NIHEsuccessfully cultivated and isolated nCov, which causes the acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) first reported in Wuhan City inChina.
The NIHE was now in a positionto master coronavirus testing, said Anh. The work would support epidemicprevention and control.
With the isolated virus, theNIHE has started to develop test kits for quick diagnosis.
At present, 22 hospitals arecapable of conducting tests for coronavirus.
The Ministry of Health (MoH)highly appreciated the cultivation and isolation of the virus, and said it wasa big success.
On February 12, DeputyMinister Tuyen presented certificates of merits to the NIHE and its sixresearchers for their dedicated work.
Vietnam can nowconduct thousands of tests per day if necessary, said Tuyen.
At present, Vietnam was oneof four countries which had successfully cultivated and isolatedthe nCoV, besides Japan, China and Australia, according to the MoH./.
