Hanoi begins second phase of mass COVID-19 testing

Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi is collecting 1 million samples for COVID-19 screening tests from residents in the areas and 13 groups of people at high risk from August 18 to 20, the city's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said.

The high-risk groups include shippers, sellers at wet markets, employees of supermarkets and trade centres, sellers at home-based grocery stores, petrol sellers, long-haul truck drivers, security guards, construction workers, sellers at pharmacies, workers at retail warehouses, persons performing duties at pandemic checkpoints, those supporting anti-pandemic activities, and environmental workers.

The second phase of mass RT-PCR testing aims to identify and isolate infection cases from “red zones”, high-risk areas, and new pandemic hotbeds.

The CDC called on people in the high-risk groups to contact local health authorities to have samples taken for testing, which is free of charge.

The first phase, conducted citywide from August 10 to 15, collected more than 313,010 samples, discovering 29 infection cases in five districts, including 23 in Dong Da, three in Thanh Tri, and one in Hoang Mai, Ha Dong and Thanh Oai each.

As of August 17 afternoon, the capital city of Hanoi recorded 2,308 locally-transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the fourth wave of infections, which began in late April./.