Hai Duong residents asked to stay home during Tet over Covid-19 fears

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A medical staff disinfects the No.3 Field Hospital in Chi Linh City, Hai Duong province. Photo: Long Nguyen/ VNExpress.

On the afternoon of February 10, the Hai Duong’s authorities said that the Provincial Party Standing Committee mobilized the local residents to celebrate Tet at home amidst the complicated development of Covid-19 outbreaks.

Before, during and after the Lunar New Year, Hai Duong mobilizes the police force to increase patrols, strictly crack down on those who do not wear face masks, gather in crowded places, dishonest in health declaration, and do not isolate at home in line with the regulations, etc.

For the workers who are eligible to return to their hometowns for the Tet holiday, the authorities make a list recording their personal information and send it to their hometowns or places of residence to facilitate the contact tracing in case the epidemic breaks out. In the pandemic-hit areas, the authorities blockade enterprises and request workers not to come back home for Tet.

Medical workers label test samples at a lab in Hai Duong province. Photo courtesy of Hoang Thi Thuy.

The Provincial Party Standing Committee requested to accelerate the Covid-19 testing especially at quarantine facilities and blockaded residential areas.

Hai Duong is the country’s biggest hotspot to date with 356 community transmission cases, followed by Quang Ninh (57), Ho Chi Minh City (34), Hanoi (28), Gia Lai (26), Binh Duong (six), Bac Ninh (four), Dien Bien (three), Hoa Binh, Hung Yen, Bac Giang (two each) and one each in Hai Phong and Ha Giang.

The nation’s Covid-19 tally of 2,109 has 1,480 recoveries and 35 deaths. Of the active patients, 33 have tested negative for the virus at least once. More than 114,000 people are in quarantine – 19,000 in centralized facilities, over 700 in hospitals, and the rest at home or other designated accommodations.

Globally, Covid-19 has infected over 108 million people and claimed more than 2.3 million lives.

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