Exactly one month after reopening, Nghe An province has detected over 1,200 people infected with Covid-19.

As of November 16th, Nghe An province has recorded a total of 3,212 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Of these, more than 1,200 cases were detected in the past month, since Nghe An province eased its pandemic prevention measures.

Earlier, on the afternoon of October 16th, the Nghe An Provincial Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center issued Official Document No. 5022 providing temporary guidance on medical expertise for the implementation of Government Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP to provincial departments, agencies, and the Covid-19 Prevention and Control Steering Committees of districts, cities, and towns. On the same day, numerous checkpoints across the province were dismantled...

At that time, the province had only recorded 2,003 Covid-19 patients. In the following days, Nghe An continuously issued directives in the spirit of Resolution 128, which stated, "Adapt safely, flexibly, and effectively control the Covid-19 epidemic." Most localities returned to a "new normal" state, and services such as karaoke, bars, and nightclubs were allowed to reopen.

Leaders of the Department of Health inspect epidemic control work in Quy Hop. Photo: CTV.

However, immediately after easing pandemic prevention measures, Nghe An suffered its most complex and dangerous wave of infections to date. Numerous outbreaks with unknown sources of infection continuously appeared in many localities. On some days, the number of cases reached nearly 100.

Not only in Vinh City, this outbreak is developing very complicatedly in many localities such as Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Quy Hop, Quynh Luu, Yen Thanh, Cua Lo, Tuong Duong... In particular, a series of cases in Nghi Loc district have very complicated travel histories, participating in many crowded events such as weddings, religious activities... The disease has also appeared in many complex environments such as schools, hospitals, industrial zones...

Meanwhile, since October 1st, 35,707 workers from Nghe An province in southern provinces have returned home. Of these, 551 have tested positive. Unlike before, when those returning from epidemic areas had to be quarantined in designated facilities, after reopening, regulations allowed those who had received two doses of the vaccine to self-isolate at home for 7 days. As a result, many of these individuals have spread the disease to the community.

For example, in Nhon Mai commune (Tuong Duong district), a father who returned from Dong Nai province and had received two doses of the vaccine was allowed to self-isolate at home. However, his daughter still went to school. On the seventh day of home isolation, the health authorities discovered that the father tested positive for Covid-19. His wife and daughter subsequently tested positive as well. In addition, a classmate of the daughter and the school's cook also contracted the disease...

As of November 16th, only nearly 500,000 people in Nghe An province had received both doses of the vaccine, reaching a rate of 20% of the total population aged 18 and over. With this figure, Nghe An remains one of the provinces with the lowest vaccination rates in the country.