Two apartment buildings, part of a local village, and 36 officers of the ward-level People’s Committee in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang have been quarantined after exposure to eight COVID-19 patients.

Of the eight patients, four are linked to the B1 apartment building on Van Don Street and two were traced to the A3 Vung Thung apartment building on Ngo Tri Hoa Street, both located in Nai Hien Dong Ward of Son Tra District.

The two apartment buildings, home to 90 households that accommodate nearly 400 people, were sealed off at 10:00 am on Thursday in accordance with a decision from the Da Nang Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The lockdown is expected to last until 10:00 am August 27, though an extension after that date is possible.

Nai Hien Dong Ward chairman Cao Dinh Hai said that local authorities will temporarily provide each household with food and necessities throughout the duration of the quarantine.

Two of the COVID-19-positive cases linked to the lockdown include a deputy chairman of Hoa An Ward in Cam Le District and a 43-year-old woman living in Yen Ne 2 Village in Hoa Tien Commune of Hoa Vang District.

After Hoa An Ward’s deputy chairman N.V.S. declared positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, 36 officers and civil servants working at the headquarters of the ward-level People’s Committee who had came into close contact with S. were sent to a centralized quarantine facility.

The People’s Committee of Cam Le District also established a temporary task force led by the district’s deputy chairman, Vo Thien Sinh, and requested the local police and military command to assist in operating public-service activities of Hoa An Ward.

Meanwhile, the Da Nang Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control also placed part of Yen Ne 2 Village on lockdown from 10:00 am Thursday. The lockdown will end on 10:00 am August 27.

The quarantine measures are meant to ensure people’s safety against the outbreak in Da Nang and to curb its spread as the central city has recorded 310 COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths since July 25, when the detection of a 57-year-old local male patient ended Vietnam’s streak of 99 days with no community-based infection.

The city tested 75,400 people for COVID-19 between July 24 and August 12.

Enhanced social distancing guidelines were previously implemented in Da Nang from July 28 until August 11 to stall the spread of the virus. The period was extended on Wednesday due to continued community transmission.

Local authorities sanctioned 401 cases of violating regulations on prevention and control of COVID-19 with a total fine of VND497 million (US$21,400) between July 27 and August 11.

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