Ho Chi Minh City to test int'l arrivals for COVID-19 four times
Monday, May 04, 2020, 16:40 GMT+7
Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City announced on Sunday that all international arrivals will be screened for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) four times during their mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The tests will be conducted on the first, fifth, tenth, and 14th days of the isolation period, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control.
Previous regulations required people to be screened for COVID-19 on the first and final days of their quarantine period.
The decision came after Vietnam’s 271st COVID-19 patient was confirmed in the southern metropolis on Sunday.
The patient, a British man, was among a team of 13 experts who arrived in Vietnam on April 28 via a charter flight. They were part of an economic project in the Southeast Asian country.
All of them were brought to a quarantine camp and tested negative for the novel coronavirus on the same day.
On May 2, the Briton tested positive while results of the other 12 experts were still negative.
A probe later revealed that the patient had previously tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the UK on April 7.
He did not receive any treatment and only underwent home quarantine.
On April 21, he tested negative for the virus and was granted a certificate, which made him eligible to enter Vietnam on April 28.
The patient currently does not show any symptom of COVID-19, namely a fever, cough, and sore throat.
He is being treated at the makeshift hospital for COVID-19 treatment in Cu Chi District.
The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 3.58 million people and killed more than 248,500 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.
The national tally stands at 271, with 220 having made a recovery and no fatality as of Monday afternoon.
Patient No. 271 was the first case recorded in the country in more than a week.
A total of 14 relapses have been confirmed in Vietnam, with two having recovered following their second treatment.
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