MoH holds urgent meeting after over 300 workers test positive for SARS-CoV-2

As of the afternoon on May 25, more than 300 additional positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 had been recorded in the nation's largest COVID-19 hotspot of Bac Giang, according to information provided by a special working group of the Ministry of Health (MoH) based in the locality.

The latest positive cases were detected following combined efforts to accelerate testing capacity over the past three days which involved the MoH working in collaboration with the Bac Giang healthcare sector at all industrial parks, factories, and the accommodation of workers.

All of the labouers who have tested positive for COVID-19 are staying in social distancing areas, thereby allowing the outbreak to be brought under control.

According to Dr. Tran Nhu Duong, deputy director of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, a preliminary assessment indicates that the source of infection is either from factory areas located in industrial zones or in the housing and accommodation areas of workers. This is because they are places with a high density of working and residence, thereby allowing the virus to spread quickly, strongly, and widely through the air.

Amid the continued threat of the COVID-19 pandemic spreading domestically, the MoH has requested that the authorities of Bac Giang move to immediately put all workers' living quarters into lockdown. This should be done whilst ensuring strict isolation, especially in high-rise buildings where many workers live, whilst applying concentrated isolation measures in these areas.

It also remains imperative for all residents to remain indoors, along with doing periodic and continuous testing and regularly disinfecting areas where workers stay.