Vietnam has well contained the coronavirus in the latest wave of infections that started hitting the country late last month, according to a deputy health minister.

“At the moment, we’re basically putting the COVID-19 pandemic under control,” Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen was quoted as saying at a government meeting on Tuesday.

Tuyen gave the statement at a time when Vietnam has recorded 486 local coronavirus infections in this fourth wave that broke out on April 27, having spent about a month recording no community transmission.

At least nine hospitals have been isolated over their links to many cases in this round.

Most sources of infection have been identified, Tuyen was cited as asserting on the health ministry’s verified Facebook account.

The local cases having been reported over the past few days are direct contacts who had already been traced and quarantined, he added.

“The risk of further community transmission is thus low,” Deputy Minister Tuyen said.

Vietnam reported 80 domestic cases on Saturday, 92 on Sunday, 125 on Monday, and 28 on Tuesday morning, according to the health ministry's statistics.

Health authorities will continue being proactive in battling the virus, sticking to the country’s prevention, detection, quarantine, suppression, and treatment strategy, as required by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Tuyen said.

Everyone should wash their hands frequently, wear face masks in public, keep a social distance, avoid crowded places, and declare their health status, the Ministry of Health advised, adding COVID-19 screening will be conducted in high-risk areas.

Regional isolation will be imposed on sites where infected patients have visited but authorities will try to minimize disruptions to daily life and economic activities, the ministry noted.

Vietnam has documented 3,489 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, with 2,618 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The Southeast Asian country confirmed 106 community cases in the first wave from January 23 to April 16, 2020, 554 in the second from July 25 to December 1, 2020, and 910 in the third from January 28 to March 25, 2021.  

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