A propaganda poster about preventing the spread of Covid-19 is seen on a wall as a man smokes a cigarette on a street in Hanoi on April 29, 2020.
Manan Vatsyayana | AFP | fake pictures
Vietnam, once praised for its success in containing the coronavirus outbreak, is now battling a resurgence in cases and has warned that the disease could spread across the country.
The Southeast Asian country, which shares a border with China, where the virus first emerged, had not registered any locally transmitted cases for more than three months before a 57-year-old resident of the central coastal city of Danang get a positive result. coronavirus disease on Saturday, the Vietnamese government said.
The patient had no history of travel nationally or internationally for the past month, the government said. But Reuters reported that tens of thousands of domestic tourists have been on vacation in the coastal city.
Authorities are preparing to evacuate the approximately 80,000 tourists in Danang. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc warned on Wednesday that all provinces and cities in the country are at risk of further infections, Reuters reported, citing state broadcaster Vietnam Television.
To be clear, the total of 450 confirmed cases reported in Vietnam as of Wednesday remains relatively small for a nation with a population of around 97 million. The country has also not recorded any coronavirus-related deaths.
But the renewed outbreak in Vietnam underscores the difficulties governments face in containing the rapidly spreading disease. That is the case even for a country that was internationally hailed as a potential role model for other developing countries in managing the coronavirus outbreak.
Vietnamese government online newspaper VGP said on Monday that preliminary epidemiological investigations showed that some of the new cases detected in Danang were linked to three hospitals in the city. Genome analysis also revealed that “this is a new type of Covid-19, which is more infectious,” said Acting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.
Authorities have tightened containment measures in Danang, such as increasing contact tracing, limiting crowd sizes, and stopping non-essential services. Flights to and from the city have also been temporarily suspended.
On Wednesday, Vietnam reported new cases in its two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which were attributed to people who visited Danang in recent weeks.
Reuters, citing city authorities, reported that around 18,000 people who visited Danang returned to Ho Chi Minh City and another 21,000 returned to their home in Hanoi.
Resurgence in Asia
Vietnam is not the only Asian country or territory facing a new jump in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned on Wednesday that the city is on the cusp of a large-scale outbreak that can overload its health care facilities and cost lives. Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory, had previously managed to contain its outbreak, allowing it to avoid a blockade.
But the Hong Kong government imposed stricter measures this week.
Taiwan, also seen as a success story in containing the virus, said on Tuesday it was investigating its first possible local transmission case in more than a month, Reuters reported. A Thai migrant worker, who arrived on the island in January, tested positive for the disease a few days after returning to Thailand, according to the report.
– CNBC’s Abigail Ng contributed to this report
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