Hanoi (VNA) 𝕴– The nationalsteering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control has sent an urgentofficial dispatch to the Ministries of Public Security and Transport, and thePeople’s Committee of Hanoi, asking them to investigate and deal with any possibleoutbreaks related to a newly confirmed patient in the city.

According to the steering committee, the femalepatient, residing on Hanoi’s Truc Bach street, was tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on March 6 and has been quarantined at the National Hospital ofTropical Diseases. The26-year-old patient earlier visited her sister in the UK,then travelled to Italy and returned to Hanoi on March 1 on flight VN0054 of Vietnam Airlines. This isthe 17th COVID-19 infection case inVietnam. The previous 16 patients have been successfully cured and discharged from hospital.  The Ministry of Public Security wasrequested to instruct relevant units to verify residence addresses ofpassengers onboard flight VN0054 and inform local authorities so as to timelyquarantine these people and monitor their health in line with regulations. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport wasasked to direct competent units to provide the list of passengers on the sameflight with the patient to supervise their health and conduct quarantine. The Ministry of Transport was also urgedto sterilize relevant aircraft and areas where the patient had gone through orused services at Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport to prevent thespread of the virus.

Thesteering committee requested the Hanoi People’s Committee to coordinate withunits of the Ministry of Public Security to investigate and make a list ofpeople having close contact with the confirmed patient, including the aircrew andpassengers on flight VN0054 and ground staff at the Noi Bai airport toquarantine and monitor their health.

Thosehaving close contact with the patient must be quarantined at medical establishmentswhile their samples and samples of the patient’s family members must be sent tothe National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for testing, the steeringcommittee said.

Besides,the municipal People’s Committee must thoroughly sterilize the houses of thepatient and neighbouring families as well as vehicles used to transport thepatient and other related offices and areas if any.

Earlier,Hanoi’s steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control held an urgentmeeting at midnight of March 6 to discuss countermeasures right after the newinfection case was reported.

Chairmanof the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said the risks ofconfection from COVID-19-hit countries are equal so it is necessary to wellcarry out the communication work and closely monitor Vietnamese citizens fromthe disease-affected regions, adding that all of them must make healthdeclarations.

Meanwhile,Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue stressed that more than100 people residing on the city’s Truc Bach street must be closely monitoredand sterilization measures must be conducted.

Eachresident must strictly observe countermeasures and report their health statusto authorities if they show symptoms of COVID-19 infection, he stressed.

﷽ The citywould soon decide the time for local students to come back to school and stepup inter-sectoral coordination in the fight against COVID-19 and provide timelyand exact information about the epidemic to avoid causing public panics./.