A rapid test in Japan recently showed that a South Korean national who arrived from Vietnam might have been infected with COVID-19.
According to Tuoi Tre, a South Korean expert left Ho Chi Minh City for Japan last Saturday, October 24. When he landed at Narita International Airport, Japanese authorities conducted a rapid antigen test, in accordance with the country’s coronavirus screening measures.
The man’s saliva sample tested positive for coronavirus antigen. However, the health department of Ho Chi Minh City told Zing that Japanese officials will carry out a real-time PCR test to confirm the result. As of this morning, October 28, the HCMC Center for Disease Control hasn’t heard from their Japanese counterparts about the case.
The South Korean national entered Vietnam on July 29 and underwent compulsory quarantine in Hanoi until August 16, testing negative for the virus then. He worked and lived in Saigon from September 29 to October 24 and did not have any link to known COVID-19 patients.
HCMC health authorities have identified 48 people (F1) who had direct contact with the suspected case, 47 of whom were placed in quarantine, while one already left the city. So far, 42 of the contacts have tested negative for the virus with real-time PCR tests; the rest are still awaiting results.
There are 297 others linked to the 48 F1 cases (F2); health officials have requested that they conduct quarantine at home. Of the F2 cases, 259 have been tested, with 123 negative results so far.
At the end of October 27, Vietnam recorded one recovery and three new COVID-19 cases: one Vietnamese citizen from France and two Indian nationals, all quarantined upon arrival. The total number of cases has reached 1,172, 1,062 of whom have recovered. The number of deaths remains at 35.
[Photo: A health official taking samples from a passenger at Tan Son Nhat Airport/Bao Giao Thong]
