Nghe An: Hospital closed, ward officials temporarily suspended due to community Covid-19 infection in Hoang Mai

The Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province works with Hoang Mai town. Photo: Thanh Chung

On the evening of August 11, the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Nghe An province had a meeting with Hoang Mai town after a Covid-19 case appeared in the community.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long chaired the meeting. Attending the meeting were Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of Nghe An Department of Health; leaders of Nghe An CDC; members of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of Hoang Mai town; Chairmen of People's Committees of wards and communes in the area.

Extremely unconscious case

According to the report of Hoang Mai town: At noon on August 11, 01 case of community Covid-19 infection appeared in the town. Accordingly: Patient VLQ, male, born in 1977. Address: Thinh My Block, Quynh Thien Ward, Hoang Mai Town. Occupation: Driver.

On August 4, patient VLQ drove a 7-seat car from Hoang Mai to Dong Nai province to pick up 3 people, including 2 people in Anh Son district (pooled sample tested positive, single sample testing is being performed) and 1 person in Con Cuong district (patient NXĐ, announced on August 9) to Nghe An for 17 million VND.

On August 9, this patient returned home and had contact with his wife and children. During the day, the patient went to many locations in Hoang Mai town; went to Quang Khoi General Hospital to perform a rapid test and was positive, PCR negative and returned home at 4:00 p.m. (Through the declaration, he heard that patient NXĐ was infected with Covid-19, so he went for testing). At Quang Khoi General Hospital, this patient did not declare that he had returned from Dong Nai and had contact with the patient.

Hoang Mai City Party Secretary reports on Covid-19 prevention and control work. Photo: Thanh Chung

A representative of Hoang Mai Town Police said: Patient VLQ deliberately did not declare his health status; provided information to the investigation agency in small doses.

Because the wife of the VLQ patient sells sticky rice in the morning, the number of people who have visited the patient's family is quite large. Through investigation and tracing, Hoang Mai town has temporarily identified 29 F1 cases and over 195 F2 cases.

In the immediate future, Hoang Mai town has organized centralized isolation of F1 cases, taken rapid test samples, conducted RT-PCR tests; sprayed disinfectant chemicals in the area where the patient arrived and the patient's family; and temporarily closed all shops in Quynh Thien ward to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic.

Social distancing for Quynh Thien ward

At the meeting, the agencies and functional units of Nghe An province and Hoang Mai town analyzed and assessed the epidemic situation in the locality. According to the Nghe An Health Department: The risk of VLQ patients spreading Covid-19 to others is very high.

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of Nghe An Department of Health stated: The risk of Covid-19 epidemic spreading in Hoang Mai town is very high. Photo: Thanh Chung

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long said: The Covid-19 case in Hoang Mai town deliberately violated epidemic prevention regulations. The risk of the epidemic spreading in Hoang Mai is very high.

Comrade Bui Dinh Long requested: Hoang Mai town focuses on tracing to the end, reviewing related factors; immediately isolating closely related cases with risk factors. If necessary, Hoang Mai town needs to conduct widespread testing to find F0 cases as soon as possible; widely announce on mass media so that people know and proactively come to declare.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee agreed with the plan proposed by Hoang Mai town to implement social distancing according to Directive 15 for Quynh Thien ward to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic.

Temporarily suspend the work of the Secretary, Chairman, and Chief of Ward Police, and temporarily close the Hospital.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long requested local Party committees and authorities to be more drastic in preventing and fighting the epidemic; well manage population movement - this is a vital factor in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic; well organize the quarantine of citizens returning from epidemic areas; and step up propaganda on epidemic prevention for the people.

Hoang Mai Town re-evaluated the epidemic prevention work in the area, especially the activities of the Community Covid Team; temporarily suspended the work of the Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Thien Ward for 2 weeks, sent a working group to investigate and clarify the responsibilities of the head and manager of the epidemic prevention and control work.

The Department of Health immediately dispatched a working group to help Hoang Mai town fight the epidemic; temporarily suspended all medical examination and treatment activities of Quang Khoi General Hospital from 0:00 on August 12 due to violations of epidemic prevention and control regulations; transferred and arranged patients from Quang Khoi General Hospital to other units for treatment; widely announced to all units; organized retraining on epidemic prevention regulations for medical examination and treatment units. As for Quang Khoi General Hospital, when it meets the conditions, it will submit to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and decision on whether to allow it to reopen or not.

Based on the investigation results, if conditions are met, Hoang Mai Town Police will immediately initiate criminal proceedings against the case and the accused as soon as possible; temporarily suspend the work of the Chief of Quynh Thien Ward Police, and clarify the responsibility for monitoring population fluctuations./.