Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long (Photo: VOV)

At Friday online meeting with the People's Committees and the Health Departments of provinces and cities on the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, Health Minister Long asked localities to take samples for quick tests of COVID-19 on a larger scale to control the spread of pathogen from the source. He said, “Large-scale sampling, fast testing, and lockdown of specific areas are essential to avoid wider impacts on citizens. Testing is the key to controlling epidemics and preventing the source of transmission. If the test is slow, the virus variant spreads very quickly, we can hardly catch up with infection speed.”

Voicing concerns of cross-contamination in the civilian quarantine facilities  in Hai Duong, the Ministry of Health asked the province to strengthen the quarantine of suspected infected persons in military-controlled areas. Other localities were urged to coordinate with military units to prepare quarantine plans and facilities to be ready to cope with various levels of infection.