The ministry is collaborating with authorities in Da Nang City and neighboring Quang Nam Province to speed up the process of taking samples from the community for mass testing, it said at a meeting on Friday with the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

Soldiers spray disinfectants in Son Tra District, Da Nang, on August 3, 2020 to prevent possible Covid-19 infections.

Da Nang, a popular tourism destination with a population of around 1.1 million, recorded Vietnam's first local Covid-19 transmission in over three months on July 25.

The city immediately began contact tracing and mass testing, and announced social distancing from July 28, requiring residents to stay home and banning public gatherings, among other measures.

The ministry said it has sent best personnel from many hospitals to Da Nang and Quang Nam to assist with the Covid-19 fight, but the outbreak has affected the treatment of some severely ill patients, which explains the growing number of Covid-19 fatalities of late, it said.

There have been 22 deaths so far, mostly of elderly patients with underlying conditions like kidney failure and diabetes.

Meanwhile, experts are investigating recently detected Covid-19 clusters in northern Hai Duong Province to see if the novel coronavirus strains found there and in Da Nang are the same, acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said.

These clusters are "worrying" and a sign that the community is still not vigilant enough in preventing infections, Long said.

On Wednesday a 63-year-old man in Hai Duong was diagnosed with Covid-19. His infection has not been traced back to any known source and is not associated with Da Nang, authorities said.

Three more people who had come into contact with him have also been diagnosed with the disease.

Provincial authorities have announced 15 days of social distancing in Hai Duong Province's capital, Hai Duong Town, from Friday, requiring them to stay at home and not gather in public, among other measures.

The ministry would help with contact tracing and collecting Covid-19 samples for testing, Long said.

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Source: NDO