Hanoi chairman Chu Ngoc Anh on Tuesday approved a plan to carry out a massive COVID-19 testing drive until August 17 with a target to collect 1.3 million samples.

Although authorities have enforced social distancing measures since July 24, Anh said, the pandemic situation in the capital has remained complicated as the number of daily new cases averages from 60 to 80, with the sources of infection at many clusters staying unknown.

Anh requested functional forces to take advantage of all resources to conduct a large-scale COVID-19 testing program during the extended social distancing period, in combination with testing cases discovered by contact tracing, to completely isolate infections from the community.

“[We must] mobilize all resources to implement this large-scale testing plan throughout the city, ensuring the correct test assignment in areas at risk and to the right target groups, along with expanding the testing drive to representatives of households,” Anh said.

The chairman requested the units to ensure absolute safety and appropriate distance during the implementation to avoid cross infections.

The authorities will assess the risk in each area by categorizing them into three types.

The red type includes areas in very high-risk and high-risk communes and wards, high-risk cases with high mobility and high exposure such as workers in supply chains and markets and pandemic prevention workers, as well as other areas according to epidemiological expertise.

The orange type consists of factories, enterprises, production facilities, agencies, markets, supermarkets, hospitals, medical examination and treatment establishments, areas located in at-risk zones as prescribed by the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, and other areas according to epidemiological expertise.

The green type covers cases with little movement in infection-free areas.

Regarding testing representatives of households in high-risk districts, a representative sample will be taken from the most at-risk member.

At the same time, the organization of testing for COVID-19 patients, their direct contacts, arrivals and returnees from virus-hit areas, and other subjects must be carried out regularly according to regulations. 

Medical forces will use both real-time RT-PCR testing and rapid test kits.

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday morning confirmed 4,802 new COVID-19 infections, including 2,128 cases in Ho Chi Minh City, taking the national tally to 232,937 patients, with 80,348 recoveries and 4,145 deaths.

Since April 27, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have accounted for 131,879 and 2,143 infections, respectively, out of the country’s total of 228,990 cases.

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