The Ministry of Health on Sunday issued a new set of guidelines for piloting home medical isolation of COVID-19 patients’ direct contacts in Ho Chi Minh City.

Under the ministry’s guidelines, grassroots authorities in the southern metropolis allow home isolation only after checking that the quarantine subjects’ accommodations, which must be separate houses, villas, or townhouses, meet the requirements.

A warning sign on a red background with yellow letters 'Medical Isolation Location' must be placed in front of these accommodations.

The quarantined person must stay in a single isolation room, which is separated from the family’s common living area and does not use the same air-conditioning system with the remaining space.

The quarantined person must strictly abide by the regulations and the time of medical isolation at home. 

They must not leave the isolation room during the quarantine period as well as not contact family members, other people, or even pets.

Daily online medical declaration and body temperature measurement during the quarantine time are needed.

The quarantined person will be sampled five times on the first, seventh, 14th, 21st, and 28th days of the isolation period.

People living under the same roof with the quarantined people who are children or the elderly must take care of them. 

Elderly people and those with underlying medical conditions who need medical care are not allowed to live in the same house with the quarantined person.

Local health authorities must manage and supervise the implementation of home quarantine as well as the collection and transportation of medical waste for treatment according to regulations.  

Ho Chi Minh City is the third locality after Bac Giang and Bac Ninh that has been allowed to isolate COVID-19 patients’ direct contacts at home as they are taking the lead in the number of infections, with 3,278, 5,587 and 1,580 cases, respectively. 

However, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang have not applied the home quarantine measure as their concentrated quarantine facilities still have room while large numbers of quarantine subjects have put pressure on Ho Chi Minh City’s centralized isolation capacity.

The Ministry of Health confirmed on Monday morning 97 new local COVID-19 cases, including 62 in Ho Chi Minh City, raising the national tally to 15,740 infections, with 6,319 recoveries and 76 deaths.

Since April 27, when the pandemic’s latest wave broke out in the country, it has documented 12,401 patients nationwide.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!