Vietnam intensifies border checks to stem ‘very worrisome’ coronavirus outbreak

Bloomberg

Vietnam has ordered a strict border control after lengthening the quarantine period to include additional time at home and imposing some movement restrictions as it traces the recent flare up in coronavirus cases to overseas travellers.
During a virus task force meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam ordered intensified inspections on arriving travellers, according to a post on a government website.
Authorities will also go “district by district, house by house” and visit companies hosting overseas workers to contain any spread.
Vietnam is facing potential clusters from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, prompting an order for those who have spent 14 days in quarantine centres to stay at home and refrain from joining any gatherings for another two weeks, the health ministry’s newspaper Suc Khoe Doi Song reported.
The new directive comes as the government rescinded an order that extended the time people must stay in official quarantine quarters to beyond 14 days, according to news website VnExpress, which cited a health ministry document.
The government is bracing for a scenario where 30,000 people could be infected, Dam said, adding that the number is meant for preparation and not a forecast. Reports that many places weren’t strictly implementing quarantine rules likely fueled the recent spike in cases, Dam said.
All isolation facilities must have working CCTV cameras 24/7. Each locality’s virus task force must inspect these centers several times a day.
“The virus situation currently is very worrisome with multiple risk factors from people entering Vietnam legally, illegally and locals letting the guard down,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said in the post.
Three patients in Vinh Phuc were found to be carrying a virus variant first detected in India, the health ministry had said. Vietnam, which has among the lowest number of infections in Southeast Asia, has ordered movement restrictions after domestic Covid-19 cases flared up for the first time in a month.