Vietnam’s COVID-19 testing capacity improved strongly: official

Hanoi (VNA) – The current COVID-19 testing capacity of Vietnam has been improved substantially, rising two- to three-fold from the previous outbreaks, said Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan.

He made the remark at a teleconference on May 13 with the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Pasteur Institute, and testing establishments of the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Thuan said laboratories nationwide are now capable of testing 100,000 single samples per day, and the capacity can increase by five- to ten-fold when it comes to pooled testing.

Vietnam has mastered sufficient testing techniques to detect and diagnose the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, including the Read time RT-PCR for confirmatory testing, rapid antigen testing, and rapid antibody testing, he went on.

Guidelines for each type of testing and different scenarios, including the scenario of 30,000 infected cases recorded in the country, have also been issued, the official noted, asking the General Department of Preventive Medicine and the Administration of Science, Technology and Training to hold regular meetings to share testing experience and knowledge with other units and grassroots medical establishments.

There are 175 testing labs capable of conducting coronavirus tests nationwide at present, including 125 carrying out confirmatory tests, according to Nguyen Minh Hang, Deputy Director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine.

Compared to the previous outbreaks, Vietnam’s testing capacity has improved “very quickly” in this fourth wave of COVID-19 infections. Nearly 310,000 samples have been tested since April 27, when the resurgence began, she said.

Health officials pointed out that the COVID-19 situation remains complex in many countries, including some sharing the borderlines with Vietnam.

Many countries and territories have also recorded the emergence of new coronavirus variants that are more transmissible and dangerous such as the variants first found in the UK and India.

As of the noon on May 13, Vietnam had reported 3,679 cases of COVID-19, including 2,234 local infections and 1,445 imported ones./.