Hanoi to expand rapid testing to screen for COVID-19 infection

A field test station is put into place in the Dong Da Secondary School to conduct rapid tests for patients who went to Bach Mai Hospital between March 10 and 28.

The information was announced at the meeting of the Hanoi Steering Committee on the prevention and control of the pandemic, held on April 1, under the chair of the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung.

The Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC) transferred rapid test kits to local hospitals on the evening of April 1 to help them conduct testing.

Chung noted that the current two sources of infection, including passengers from abroad and Bach Mai Hospital, should be closely supervised and samples must be tested as quickly as possible.

He said that Hanoi has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 patients among cities across the country, thus the suspension of unnecessary activities and the implementation of social distancing is a sound policy to follow.

So far, the city has spent VND1.28 trillion (US$54.23 million) for the prevention and control of the pandemic.

*The e-wallet, ZaloPay, has become an additional channel to receive financial support for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since April 1 in response to the call from the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.

* The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology reported four new cases of COVID-19, raising the total to 222 as of 6am on April 2.

Patient 219, a 59-year-old woman from Hung Yen province, took care of a family member who was in the same room as patient 133 at Bach Mai hospital in Hanoi from March 16.

The other three patients, numbered from 220 to 222, were found among those under quarantine after returning from abroad.