The latest COVID-19 cluster in the northern Vietnamese province of Phu Tho has caused 395 positive cases, including 80 workers in two industrial parks, according to local industrial park managers.

Ten more workers had been infected with the coronavirus by Sunday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the two industrial parks to 80 since October 14, when the latest outbreak erupted in Phu Tho, the provincial Management Board of Industrial Parks said on Monday.

Among the total, 78 have been detected at Thuy Van Industrial Park in Viet Tri City, the largest in the province, with Yakjin Vietnam Co. Ltd. topping the list with 35 positive cases, followed by Ksa Polymer Hanoi JSC with 27 and the others.

The other two infections have been recorded at Tarpline Hanoi Co. Ltd. at Dong Lang Industrial Park in Phu Ninh District.

Following the outbreak, local health authorities have taken samples from 47,000 workers at 131 enterprises in the province’s industrial parks for coronavirus testing, and most of the samples have been negative while the remaining results are pending, the board said.

All people who are close contacts of positive cases have been suspended from work and placed in quarantine.

In order to implement epidemic prevention and control steps, Ksa Polymer Hanoi, Yakjin Vietnam, and Tarpline Hanoi have allowed all their workers to leave while other companies have suspended a part of their staff.

The board is closely coordinating with local health authorities to boost the COVID-19 testing and deploy plans for responding to positive cases, said Nguyen Ngoc Hanh, head of the board. 

All businesses in the province’s industrial parks have been required to tighten epidemic prevention and control measures, Hanh added.

The province’s administration on Sunday decided to set up COVID-19 Field Hospital No. 2 with 220 beds for treating COVID-19 patients.

By Sunday, the province, with a population of over 1.46 million, had administered 706,724 first vaccine shots and 86,739 second jabs to residents, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.

The pandemic has caused 451 COVID-19 cases in Phu Tho since it hit the country in early 2020, with zero deaths reported, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday.

Nationwide, 888,940 infections, including 805,978 recoveries and 21,673 fatalities, have been recorded.

The Southeast Asian nation has recently experienced remarkable reductions in both coronavirus infections and deaths, with 4,028 patients and 53 fatalities reported on Sunday compared to the corresponding figures of 8,537 and 203 a month earlier, the ministry’s data shows.

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