On the afternoon of April 30, Mr. Hoang Duc Hanh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, announced that two suspected Covid-19 cases had been recorded at Thang Long Industrial Park in Dong Anh district, Hanoi, and are currently awaiting confirmatory test results.
Specifically, N.T.H.N., born in 1996, is a worker at Panasonic Company in Thang Long Industrial Park, and N.Đ.Đ., born in 1994, is also a worker at Thang Long Industrial Park.
“This morning, the Hanoi People’s Committee inspected Thang Long Industrial Park,” Mr. Hanh said.
It is known that these two cases are F1 contacts of patient 2911, who was announced by the Ministry of Health this morning. Patient 2911, a 28-year-old male residing in Viet Hung commune, Dong Anh district, had participated in a banquet with patient 2899 – a young man from Ha Nam who returned from Japan on April 22.
It is reported that Panasonic Company has about 2,800 workers. Mr. Khong Minh Tuan – Deputy Director of the Hanoi CDC, requested that the two companies in Thang Long Industrial Park with the first positive cases compile a list of residents, workers, and their relatives along with phone numbers.
Furthermore, workers need to be urgently notified to self-isolate at home until further test results for these two cases are available, ready for isolation and contact tracing.
Mr. Tuan confirmed, “If there is no list of the 2,800 workers, it will be very difficult to control the epidemic.”
At the meeting, Mr. Chu Xuan Dung, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, affirmed that Dong Anh and Thang Long Industrial Park need specific solutions if the two F1 cases of patient 2991 become F0 cases.
Mr. Dung stated: “In just a few hours, test results will be available, but the two F1 cases that tested positive for the first time have a very high probability of being positive. Therefore, it is requested that Dong Anh district, Thang Long Industrial Park, and the two companies quickly focus on tracing related cases. Assuming the two F1 cases become F0, all F1 contact tracing must be completed by 14:00 today; F2 tracing must be completed by 17:00.”
Mr. Dung emphasized the need to be very decisive in controlling the epidemic. Because thousands of workers in the industrial park are unmonitored, this poses a significant danger and a high risk. Subsequent F1 cases must be immediately transferred to concentrated quarantine areas. F2 cases should be reported to local authorities and health facilities for serious supervision at home.
Mr. Dung required the two companies with the two F1 cases related to patient 2911 to have workers declare their health status from April 22 onwards.