The chairman of a city in northern Vietnam has demanded that police launch investigate two nurses at a local hospital for allegedly causing COVID-19 infections in the community.

N.V.Q., 27, living in Le Chan District, Hai Phong and D.T.Ph., 26, dwelling in the city's Thuy Nguyen District, who were confirmed as two COVID-19 patients on Monday, showed signs of violations of disease prevention and control, according to the reports of the municipal Department of Health and People’s Committee.

Ph. was found carrying the virus after Hai Phong’s health sector had conducted mass COVID-19 testing at medical facilities and in the community on Sunday.

In contact with Ph., her younger sister and Q. also tested positive for the novel coronavirus. 

Q. and Ph. are in a relationship and both working as nurses at Hai Phong Transport Hospital.

According to contact-tracing results, Q. traveled to his hometown in Cam Giang District, Hai Duong Province, currently a COVID-19 hotspot, on February 3.

But Q. dodged health declaration as required upon his return to Hai Phong.

On February 7, Q. and Ph. had meals at an eatery and went to a supermarket, a gold shop, a café, and acquaintances’ houses.

The couple visited a total of 19 locations in the city.

Hai Phong chairman Nguyen Van Tung has ordered an investigation into the case while demanding that relevant agencies strictly deal with the couple and related people in accordance with Vietnamese law.

In light of new local infections, Hai Phong authorities have sealed off an entire village and a hospital since Monday.

The secretary of the municipal Party Committee has also requested all residents to avoid going outside and leaving their houses after 10:00 pm every day after a new COVID-19 cluster was recently detected in the locality.

Hai Phong has documented four local COVID-19 cases since January 28, when the Ministry of Health confirmed the first domestic transmission after Vietnam had spent almost two months detecting zero community-based infections.

A total of 803 local cases have been detected in 13 provinces and cities since then, making it the most serious outbreak to have struck Vietnam after the first-ever COVID-19 patient was recorded in the country on January 23, 2020.

In this latest wave, 620 cases were logged in Hai Duong Province, 60 in Quang Ninh Province, 27 in Gia Lai Province, 35 in Hanoi, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, five in Bac Ninh Province, two in Bac Giang Province, two in Hoa Binh Province, one in Ha Giang Province, three in Dien Bien Province, six in Binh Duong Province, and two in Hung Yen Province.

The national tally stood at 2,395 coronavirus cases, including 1,496 local infections, as of Tuesday morning, with 1,717 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

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