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HANOI: Vietnam reported two more coronavirus cases on Tuesday (December 1) linked to a rare domestic infection in its Ho Chi Minh City shopping mall, while the government urged public surveillance and stricter enforcement of health measures. .
The Southeast Asian nation is back on high alert after confirming the country’s first community infection in 89 days on Monday, prompting the closure of several locations in the densely populated southern city.
The community’s case, a 32-year-old man, tested positive after visiting a flight attendant who was undergoing a self-quarantine at her home after returning from Japan two weeks ago. The flight attendant tested positive on Saturday, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
READ: Vietnam reports first locally transmitted COVID-19 case in nearly 3 months
Health authorities ordered 137 people who had been in close contact with the man to stay in a central quarantine facility and close an English center where he works as a teacher, the newspaper said.
“The flight attendant contracted the virus … then passed it on to others during his quarantine time at home,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said in a government statement, adding that it is the first time it has occurred. such an incident.
“The flight attendant seriously violated quarantine rules.”
Late on Tuesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that Vietnam would suspend all incoming commercial flights following the new outbreak. The flights of some foreign experts doing business in Vietnam had been operating during the pandemic.
With its strict monitoring and quarantine measures, Vietnam has managed to quickly contain its coronavirus outbreaks, allowing it to resume its economic activities earlier than much of Asia.
Vietnam crushed its first wave of coronavirus infections in April and went nearly 100 days without local transmission until the virus reappeared in the central resort city of Danang in July and spread widely, before being contained within a few weeks.
Prime Minister Phuc has called on citizens and authorities to step up measures to protect themselves against the spread of the coronavirus, especially ahead of the five-year Communist Party congress.
“There will be many great gathering events ahead of the National Congress, the largest political event in our country, we cannot allow the virus to affect us.”
Vietnam has recorded a total of 1,351 coronavirus cases in total, with 35 deaths.
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