Ministry warns of infections from unknown sources in coming days

Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Health predicted more new COVID-19 cases in the community nationwide from unknown sources in the coming days.

Speaking at the Government’s meeting on August 12 with 15 localities which recorded COVID-19 infections since late July, a representative of the health ministry said although the transmission in the central city of Da Nang has been gradually contained with a decreasing number of new cases in recent days, there is still a high risk of infection in the community in other places.

Cases linked to Da Nang were mostly from hospitals which have been locked down since the first case was detected and from people in close contact with positive cases.

All 17 fatalities so far have had underlying medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart and renal failures, as well as cancer. There will be more deaths from those diseases, according to the ministry.

Chairing the meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said localities and sectors had taken prompt measures in response to the resurgence of the pandemic. Da Nang has given residents market entrance tickets to go shopping on alternate days as part of social distancing measures.

Since August 12, residents of Da Nang are given tickets that allow them to go to the market once every three days on social distancing period.

Shoppers must fill in personal information on the cards and give them to security guards before entering the markets. The information will be used to trace the source of infection if there is any new cases detected.

They must also wear face masks and sanitise their hands before entering markets.

The city has also allowed officers of local administrative centres to work from home during the social distancing period.

Vietnam has so far reported 883 COVID-19 cases, of which 421 are connected to the outbreak in Da Nang. 409 patients or 46.3 percent of the total have fully recovered and 18 died of the disease./.