Clusters of F0 cases lost track in Nghe An

Epidemic re-emerges at Vinh wholesale market

As of the morning of August 21, the entire Nghe An province has recorded 781 cases (since June 13). Of the 21 districts, cities and towns, only Quy Chau district has not recorded a single case. What is worrying is that there are currently many clusters of F0 cases with no trace, with very complicated contact histories, and the risk of spreading is very high.

Among the clusters of cases, the first to mention is the outbreak at Vinh wholesale market. Up to now, this outbreak has recorded more than 100 cases, spreading to 8 districts, cities, towns and even to Ha Tinh province. Of which, the highest number of cases are in Vinh City, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Cua Lo Town, Nghi Loc...

Vinh wholesale market has a second outbreak with a more serious level. Photo: Tien Hung

On August 14, after more than a month of peace, with no recorded cases of community infection, Vinh City discovered the first case related to the Vinh wholesale market outbreak. This is the second time the outbreak has occurred at this complex market. The patient is Ms. LTTX (42 years old, residing in Cua Nam ward). Ms. X. specializes in selling fruit at the wholesale market.

On August 13, she felt tired and had a cough. On the morning of August 14, she had a fever, then called a testing service to come to her house to do a rapid test and the results were positive twice. The test results confirmed on the same day that she was positive for Covid-19. Her F1s were immediately quarantined and tested. On the same day, two more cases were recorded, her daughter and the driver who delivered and received goods for Ms. X... Therefore, the authorities could not determine who infected whom.

Realizing the complicated situation, Vinh City immediately locked down and thoroughly searched for people who had been to the wholesale market for widespread testing. Vinh City then had to practice social distancing according to Directive 15 from 0:00 on August 15, after 26 days of relaxation.

Bustling life at Vinh wholesale market before the outbreak. Photo: Contributor

After testing the people involved, a series of localities recorded cases related to this outbreak, most of whom were traders. Among them, we must mention the case in Xuan An town, Nghi Xuan district (Ha Tinh). This person was a trader, bought fish at Vinh wholesale market, then sold it at Quang Trung market. Therefore, another cluster of cases at Quang Trung market was formed. Not only traders, many people who went shopping at this market were also found to be infected with Covid-19.

In addition, an F1 of this trader residing in Thai Hoa town, after testing, was also found to be infected with Covid-19 (This person went to a funeral in Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh, and came into contact with a fish trader at Quang Trung market). From there, another cluster of cases was formed in Thai Hoa town. Up to now, 6 cases have been recorded in this town, all originating from this fish trader. Thus, from the large outbreak at Vinh wholesale market, many more small clusters of related cases were formed. After exactly 1 week since the first case was detected, the outbreak is still very complicated when cases are continuously recorded in the community. From this wholesale market, a series of traders from many other markets have also been infected with Covid-19.

Epidemic in the countryside

While the wholesale market outbreak has not been controlled, another complex cluster of F0 cases with no trace has appeared in Dien Yen commune, Dien Chau district. Accordingly, on August 18, Ms. NTL (57 years old, a farmer in Dien Yen commune) took her 33-year-old daughter to Phu Dien General Hospital for a rapid test after showing symptoms of fatigue. The results showed that both mother and daughter were infected with Covid-19.

According to Mr. Duong Dang Hoang - Chairman of Dien Yen Commune People's Committee, Ms. L's daughter got married and moved to Dien Doai Commune. Recently, she got sick so Ms. L went there to take care of her child before both of them were found to be infected with Covid-19. Recently, the mother and daughter did not go far and did not come into contact with anyone with epidemiological factors. "Before that, on July 11, Ms. L went to Vung Tau City to take care of her grandchild. But she returned to her hometown on July 11, more than a month ago," said Mr. Hoang.

Health authorities are having to stay up all night to increase sample collection for testing. Photo: Contributor

After isolating and testing people who had contact with the mother and child, on August 19, authorities discovered 10 more people infected with Covid-19. Most of these people were family members, relatives and neighbors of the mother and child.

According to Dr. Thai Phan At - Director of Dien Chau District Medical Center, because all 12 cases were discovered almost at the same time, it is impossible to determine who infected whom (lost track of F0). Not to mention, some patients are uncooperative and not honest in declaring their contact history, making the investigation of the source of infection even more difficult.

According to Mr. At, medical staff are currently staying up all night to collect samples for large-scale testing of thousands of households in Dien Yen commune to find F0. According to the assessment, there are still many F0 related to this cluster of cases that have not been discovered, because most of the patients have no symptoms. To date, there have been a total of 14 cases in 3 communes of Dien Yen, Dien Doai of Dien Chau district and Do Thanh commune of Yen Thanh district related to this outbreak.

At the same time, authorities also discovered another cluster of cases related to the Vietnam-Korea Technical College. Accordingly, on August 17, two 18-year-old students from Phu Thanh and Tang Thanh communes both showed symptoms of fatigue, headache, and sore throat. A day later, both went to Yen Thanh District Medical Center for a rapid test and discovered they were infected with Covid-19.

Faced with the complicated situation of the outbreak, authorities are strengthening control and restricting people from going out. Photo: Tien Hung

The leaders of Nghe An Department of Health said that both patients had complicated study and travel schedules and came into contact with many people in many localities. Therefore, there was a very high risk of widespread disease spread. Immediately, the Department of Health had to issue an urgent notice, looking for people who had been to and returned from the Vietnam - Korea Industrial Technical College to implement epidemic prevention measures. At the same time, Yen Thanh district was also immediately isolated from society according to Directive 16.

Nearly 1,000 students and lecturers of the school were quickly taken to centralized quarantine, more than 700 others were required to quarantine at home.

To date, the Department of Health has recorded 17 positive cases related to this cluster of cases. Of which, Yen Thanh district has 12 cases (8 students, 4 close contacts); Hoang Mai town: 2 cases (1 student, 1 close contact); Nghi Loc district: 1 case (close contact), Do Luong district: 1 case (student), Vinh city: 1 case (lecturer).

According to Mr. Ho Van Dam - Principal of Vietnam - Korea Technical College, it is currently very difficult to find the initial source of infection of this cluster of cases. However, it is worth noting that most of the cases are from Yen Thanh. Meanwhile, the school only started on August 9. On August 15, the students were temporarily suspended from school to return to their hometowns because Vinh City began social distancing.

“The students only stayed in the school dormitory for a week before having to leave. They showed symptoms of the epidemic after returning to their hometown for a day. Therefore, it is not impossible that they were infected before August 9, when they were still in their hometown. Then, when they entered school, they accidentally infected others,” Principal Dam said, adding that health agencies need to expand tracing, especially paying attention to the period before the patients in Yen Thanh district entered school to find the source of the infection.

In addition, in Nghe An province, there are many other cases and clusters of F0 cases with no trace, but the number of patients is not large. For example, at the Viet Nhat MLB Garment Company, located in Block 3, Yen Thanh town. On August 20, the health authorities discovered 2 workers here infected with Covid-19. One of them is from Dien Dong commune (Dien Chau), the other is from Tang Thanh commune. MLB Company has a total of 1,225 staff and workers. The investigation and tracing results showed that the 2 cases had 131 F1, of which 88 F1 were workers of the company. Due to the large number of workers, who travel back and forth every day, the risk of forming a complicated outbreak here is possible. Currently, the authorities still do not know the source of infection of these 2 patients.

Recently, more than 15,000 people from the southern epidemic area returned to their hometown Nghe An. Photo: Tien Hung

Regarding the outbreak at Minh An General Hospital (Quynh Luu), Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Director of CDC Nghe An said that so far there have been 103 cases in 2 districts, including: Quynh Luu: 91 cases (in 10 communes); Hoang Mai Town: 12 cases (in 2 communes). Currently, this outbreak has been controlled.

At a recent meeting of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in Nghe An province, the leader of the Nghe An Department of Health assessed that the province is at a very high risk level. The first reason is that there is a large outbreak that is difficult to control and has the risk of spreading quickly in the community and has spread to other provinces (the outbreak at Vinh wholesale market, Quang Trung market and Vietnam - Korea Technical College). In the coming time, there is a risk of the epidemic breaking out widely in localities.

Meanwhile, some F0 cases showed symptoms such as fever and fatigue but did not declare, did not go to medical facilities for testing and arbitrarily bought medicine to treat at home. There are still cases of people returning from areas with recorded Covid-19 infections not declaring, only going for testing when symptoms of the disease appear./.