Vietnam quarantines area with 176 residents over coronavirus

Up to 176 people in 22 households living in a street of Hanoi have been quarantined after the city reported the first Covid-19 patient.

The information was given by Hanoi’s Party Secretary Vuong Dinh Hue at an emergency meeting held late Friday.

The patient, a 26-year-old woman, is a hotel manager residing on Truc Bach Street in Ba Dinh District. She was tested positive to the virus after returning from a trip to Italy and the UK for around two weeks, starting from February 15.

Related: Vietnam reports 17th Coronavirus patient, first in three weeks

She returned to Hanoi on a Vietnam Airlines flight on March 2 and went through immigration normally without a fever. She stayed at her apartment in Truc Bach Street.

The woman had a fever on March 3 and this got worse on March 5 when she came to Hong Ngoc Hospital near her house for medical examination. She was diagnosed with pneumonia.

She was moved to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi at 6 pm on Thursday where she tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

So, Hanoi authorities have decided to monitor 176 people in Truc Bach Street where the woman’s house is located. Dan Tri Newspaper reports.

According to Nguyen Duc Chung, chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee, the list of people who have been in close contact with the woman include 17 staff from Hong Ngoc Hospital, her father, driver and a domestic helper.

On the return flight to Vietnam, the woman shared the business class lounge with other 27 people.

Every traveler arriving in Vietnam from overseas will need to fill out health declaration forms starting this Saturday.

The arrivals can choose to file the declaration in paper or electronic form, via the Preventive Health Department website suckhoetoandan.vn/khaiyte. The declaration form is available in English, Chinese, South Korean, Italian and Cambodian, local media reports.

The Ministry of Health also requires those with symptoms like cough, fever, shortness of breath, and fatigue to be examined and quarantined.

Vietnam already required those arriving from mainland China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy, the worst-hit countries, to be quarantined for at least 14 days.