Hanoi (VNA) – Localities across Vietnam aretaking drastic measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Health Department in Khanh Hoa said onFebruary 26 that the southern central province, a tourist magnet for Vietnam,had quarantined 36 people from the Republic of Korea (RoK), where the number ofCOVID-19 cases is rising fast. They include 19 from Daegu – the centre of theRoK’s coronavirus outbreak, seven from Gyongsang, five from Busan, and fivefrom other Korean provinces. Some of them showed symptoms of coughing and mildfever, and their samples are being tested.

Meanwhile, two Korean visitors from Daegu whohad refused quarantine in Phan Thiet city in the central province of Binh Thuanreturned home from Cam Ranh International Airport on February 26.

Deputy Director of the department Le Tan Phungsaid the province’s disease control centre is investigating their travelhistory and listing people who had close contract with them.

The same day, the provincial People’s Committeesent an urgent dispatch to local departments, sectors and localities requestingthem to step up measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from the RoK.

In Binh Duong province – an industrial hub inthe south of Vietnam, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee DangMinh Hung on February 26 asked agencies, sectors and localities to stand readyto respond to the disease and consider COVID-19 prevention and control as a keypolitical task. 

He also told them to “go down every alley, visiteach house and review every person” to prevent the disease.

Although Binh Duong hasn’t recorded any cases sofar, its medical establishments have reportedly geared up with equipment andmedicine for patient quarantine and treatment.

According to the province’s steering board forCOVID-19 prevention and control, 2,050 cases have been quarantined at home inBinh Duong.

There are 2,557 Korean experts and labourers inBinh Duong. Besides, 43 people from the province are also working in theNortheast Asian nation, and 17 of them are preparing to return home, theprovincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said.

Also on February 26, Le Ngoc Han, Director ofthe Department of Information and Communications in Quang Ninh province, whichborders China and is also a tourist destination, rejected reports that Bao MinhRadiant Hotel in Ha Long city had received guests with COVID-19.

The local Department of Tourism chose somehotels in Ha Long and Mong Cai cities, including Bao Minh Radiant, toaccommodate tourists from coronavirus-hit areas for 14 days.

Han said this hotel had actively coordinatedwith authorities. The local health sector and relevant agencies have also sentstaff to check visitors regularly. Four tourists staying at the hotel havetested negative for the virus, and have exited Vietnam.

COVID-19 is classified as a Class A contagious disease, a group of extremely dangerous infectious diseases that can transmit very rapidly and spread widely with high mortality rates, including the likes of influenza A-H5N1, SARs, Ebola or smallpox. The incubation period for the virus is around 14 days.

A total of 82,384 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in 52 countries and territories worldwide, with 2,814 fatalities. Most of the infections were recorded in China (78,498), the RoK (1,766), Italy (655), Japan (207), Iran (245) and Singapore (95).

In Vietnam, 16 people infected with the coronavirus were cured, while no new cases have been recorded in the past 14 days.

Currently, 31 suspected cases are quarantined while 5,675 people who had close contact with the suspected are under close medical observation.

On February 26, a representative from the health ministry said Khanh Hoa and Thanh Hoa provinces are eligible to announce disease-free status./.