Calling on people returning from Bach Mai Hospital to proactively declare for timely quarantine

On the afternoon of March 29, the Ministry of Health held an online conference with the northern provinces on controlling, monitoring, and preventing Covid-19 infection for patients and their relatives related to Bach Mai Hospital. Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long chaired the conference. At the Nghe An bridge, Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health chaired.

As of the morning of March 29, the Ministry of Health has identified 5 new positive cases, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to 179. Of the 5 cases announced this morning, 4 are related to Bach Mai Hospital. Thus, Bach Mai Hospital has so far recorded 16 cases of Covid-19 infection.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that as soon as the positive cases were detected, the Ministry of Health directed Bach Mai Hospital to lock down and quarantine all doctors, medical staff and relatives of patients in the department with the case. The hospital's Tropical Center had 251 people and the Neurology Department had 319 people who were quarantined when the positive cases were detected.

Scene at Nghe An bridge. Photo: Tien Hung

The Ministry has tested all medical staff as well as patients and their families at Bach Mai Hospital to find the source of infection. Over 6,000 samples were taken and more than 5,600 of them were negative, with 9 positive cases detected. Of these 9 cases, 7 were from Truong Sinh Company, a unit that specializes in providing services to the hospital.

The Deputy Minister of Health requested localities to urgently review and quarantine those who had been to Bach Mai Hospital during the outbreak. These include patients, patients' relatives, students, trainees...
The Ministry of Health also calls on anyone who has been to Bach Mai Hospital between March 12 and March 27, 2020 to immediately send a text message with their full name and address to 8889. Contact the local Center for Disease Control for advice. Make a health declaration on the NCOVI application (ncovi.vn), or declare online at tokhaiyte.vn, regularly update your health status for advice and assistance.

In Nghe An, initial screening showed that nearly 1,000 patients had visited and received treatment at Bach Mai Hospital within 14 days of the outbreak. However, this number does not include accompanying relatives. Currently, Nghe An province has continuously issued two urgent dispatches, requesting urgent screening to promptly quarantine cases returning from Bach Mai Hospital./.