Record 444 cases on May 25

On the evening of May 25, the Ministry of Health announced 284 new cases. Thus, on May 25, Vietnam had 444 new Covid-19 cases. This is the day with the highest number of new patients since the outbreak re-emerged on April 27.
According to the 6 p.m. news on May 25, new cases were recorded in Bac Giang (243), Bac Ninh (26), Hanoi (11), Lang Son (3), Ha Nam (3), and K Hospital Tan Trieu (1).

In Bac Giang, patients 5609-5773 are related to the epidemiological situation in Quang Chau, Van Trung, Song Khe - Noi Hoang industrial zones, in the locked-down area. These are cases that have had samples taken at lightning speed in the past 3 days. In addition, 78 new cases do not have enough information for epidemiological investigation, the Ministry of Health will add patient codes later.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen assessed that Bac Giang and Bac Ninh are the two hot spots of the new Covid-19 outbreak. The difference of the outbreak here is the intrusion in industrial zones with a very large number of workers.

This causes difficulties in the fight against the epidemic, typically the centralized isolation of F1 cases as well as taking samples for testing for all people at risk. Therefore, following the direction of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, the Ministry of Health has agreed to pilot two new measures in these localities: F1 self-isolating at home and people taking samples for testing themselves.

“We will do a pilot, then learn from experience and expand. Before officially amending, we must pilot, based on the results to be able to amend and supplement,” Deputy Minister Tuyen shared.

At an urgent meeting on the afternoon of May 25 when Bac Giang recorded a record number of infections in a day - more than 300 cases, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that this infection strain is very fast, very strong, spreading very widely, especially it has the ability to multiply and spread the pathogen very widely.

"In the lab, normally the virus grows on the 3rd or 4th day, but this time on the 2nd day it grew a lot, so the pathogen spread very quickly," said the Minister.

The results of gene sequencing of some patient samples in Bac Giang showed that the virus belonged to a variant that appeared from India. This strain has been listed by the World Health Organization as a dangerous variant, with the ability to infect 1.7 times faster than other strains, can evade antibodies, spread in the air, and spread especially quickly in closed environments.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long at the meeting this afternoon. Photo: VNE

For example, at Hosiden company, the population density is very high, workers sit half a meter apart, the environment is closed, the restroom is shared, the dining area is also shared. Tens of thousands of people work and live like that, so the risk of infection is very high. The rate of F1 (close contact) here becoming F0 (infected with Covid-19) is up to 55%.

Minister Long assessed that the risk of Covid-19 infection is present in all districts in Bac Giang, not just the 4 districts that are being quarantined according to Directive 16. He suggested that Bac Giang implement social distancing in some high-risk areas. For all outbreaks in the community, the principles of tracing, isolation, containment, and treatment must be strictly followed, and no F1 cases must be left behind, as even one case can cause unpredictable consequences.

The epidemic is spreading rapidly in industrial zones in Bac Giang. Therefore, the Minister suggested that the province "freeze" areas with many workers such as My Dien, Nui Hieu... and apply centralized quarantine to the entire area. The entire area must be considered a centralized quarantine area to control and contain the epidemic.