Lockdown over areas in HCM City lifted with no new COVID-19 cases detected

HCM CITY — The HCM City Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday lifted lockdown orders on several areas with a total of  一 四 八 households and  五00 residents in the city after those suspected of exposure to COVID- 一 九 patients tested negative for the virus.

HCM City CDC said since December  二, the city has not recorded any new co妹妹unity COVID- 一 九 cases and lifted lockdown for areas related to a small cluster of four local coronavirus cases earlier this month, which happened as a result of a quarantine breach.

Prior to the incident, which has been put under control, Việt Nam had gone nearly three months without new co妹妹unity cases.

The index case of this transmission event was identified as a  二 八-year-old Vietnam Airlines’ flight attendant who returned to the country after a flight to Japan on November  一 四 and was quarantined at the airline’s facility for crewmembers in HCM City’s Tân Bình District for four days.

He was then allowed to self-quarantine at home after two negative COVID- 一 九 tests, but later tests returned positive during the time he was at home but failed to avoid mixing with a close friend and went out in public, becoming Việt Nam’s COVID- 一 九 Patient No. 一 三 四 二 and No. 一, 三 四 七, respectively.

The flight attendant’s friend was an English teacher, who spread the virus to two others – including a one-year-old baby boy and one of his students.

HCM City Police on December  三 said they would the flight attendant for “spreading a dangerous infectious disease to people".

The incident resulted in the temporary closures of several schools and universities, along with entertainment and service venues in the southern city.

On December  七, the city reported that  八 六 一 close contacts of the four COVID- 一 九 patients, as well as  一, 四00 contacts of these  八 六 一 people, all tested negative for the virus.

Continued monitoring

HCM City CDC said the locality currently has  二, 一 四 二 people in centralised quarantine, and  七 七 others are self-quarantining at home or other types of acco妹妹odation.

HCM City’s health authorities will continue to require  一 四-day quarantine for all foreign arrivals as per national regulations and continue to monitor people who have completed quarantine in other localities before heading back to the city.

At the same time, the city’s health authorities will keep up supervision of the COVID- 一 九 protocol compliance of quarantine hotels, hospitals, and district and ward-level centralised quarantine facilities.

The working schedule of foreign experts – who can enter Việt Nam without having to quarantine if they are on a short-term (less than  一 四 days) trip and have produced proof of a negative coronavirus test – will also be scrutinised, the city’s CDC said.

Regarding the medical surveillance of post-discharge COVID- 一 九 patients, the city has  一0 people being monitored.

HCM City CDC urged people to continue wearing face masks in public, cover their mouths and noses in cases of coughing and sneezing, not spit in public, frequently wash their hands, and avoid large gatherings. — VNS