Saigon health authorities are in the process of testing F2 contacts.
Tuoi Tre reports that all 852 people known to have come into direct contact with four detected COVID-19 cases in Saigon this week have tested negative for the coronavirus. The news comes after a frantic city-wide contract-tracing effort following the first known local transmission of the virus in 88 days.
In total, 2,244 people, including indirect contacts, have been tested in relation to these cases; 1,643 of these individuals have tested negative. At the time of writing, results are pending for the remaining 1,392 tests.
Of these contacts, around 1,600 are currently in quarantine at official centers, while the rest are in home isolation.
In response to the emergence of this cluster, VnExpress reports that a number of businesses in Saigon have brought stricter prevention policies online, including canceling business trips, requiring employees to fill out health declaration forms, and ordering some staff to work from home.
Uniqlo, for example, canceled an event planned to mark its first anniversary in Vietnam, while the tech startup Be Group has stopped client meetings and job interviews. Mask usage has also increased both in workplaces and in public spaces.
And in another article, Tuoi Tre cleared up some of the confusion over the status of repatriation and expert flights, as previous reporting had said that all inbound commercial flights had been temporarily suspended. In fact, local airlines will be allowed to continue arranging these flights, as long as quarantine procedures are rigorously enforced.
The government has also decided to pursue localized social distancing regulations instead of pursuing large-scale shutdowns in order to avoid economic damage.
[Photo via VietnamNet]
