Medical workers of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Health worked through Saturday night to conduct a mass COVID-19 test for 1,000 employees of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, as a staff member at the airdome had been confirmed as Vietnam’s COVID-19 patient No. 1,979 in the afternoon.

Doctor Nguyen Tri Dung, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDC), on Sunday morning told Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper that all samples had been collected and the center is now waiting for test results.

Accordingly, individuals tested positive with the coronavirus will be sent to quarantine immediately while those having a negative result will be tested again after five days.

A medical staff is taking sample for COVID-19 test on an employee at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City as per a request to test 1,000 airport employees from the city’s Department of Health on February 6, 2021. Photo: H.T/ Tuoi Tre

The city had also found 47 people who had direct contact with the patient No.1,979. All of them were negative at the first test.

Also, at an emergency meeting on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam directed Ho Chi Minh City's authorities to urgently localize people related to the infected staff in order to ensure normal operation at the airdome.

Medical staff are taking sample for COVID-19 test on an employee at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City as requested by the city’s Department of Health on February 6, 2021. Photo: T.H/ Tuoi Tre

The No.1,979 patient was identified after the disease control center examined all employees at Tan Son Nhat Airport in late January, as a passenger from the northern province of Hai Duong travelling from Noi Bai Airport to Tan Son Nhat Airport on January 28 was found positive with COVID-19.

The center collected 5,900 samples from 7,000 airport employees during a week and recorded one infection case, who is patient No.1,979 - a baggage handler.

Vietnam’s COVID-19 tally on Sunday increased to 1,985 as the northern province of Hai Duong on Saturday morning reported three more community-transmitted cases of COVID-19 while the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai recorded one the same day, according to the Ministry of Health.

A medical staff is collecting samples for COVID-19 tests at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City as per a request to test 1,000 airport employees from the city’s Department of Health on February 6, 2021. Photo: H.T/ Tuoi Tre

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