Singapore expert cites quarantine conditions in Da Nang as ‘Wuhan experience’

On August 2, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan, in a meeting with the Standing Government with provinces and cities on Covid-19 prevention and control, proposed applying the experience of Wuhan, Hubei province, China.

Evaluating this proposal, Professor Yik Ying Teo, Dean of Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, said Vietnam needs to consider applying based on a number of conditions.

Firstly, it is necessary to rely on the scale of the epidemic in Da Nang and the ability to trace infected and suspected infected people.

According to the Singaporean professor, if infections in the community increase without identifying the source of contact, hospitals are overloaded, and people are reluctant or have difficulty complying with epidemic prevention measures, then the government

He said that the most important factor to consider when imposing a quarantine order on Da Nang is the capacity of hospitals.

Quarantine `helps drastically reduce infections in the community and minimize the need for resources in hospitals,` Teo said.

Within 10 days since Vietnam detected the first case of community infection, Da Nang recorded a total of 142 cases, other localities recorded 60 cases, all related to Da Nang.

The Da Nang government area was locked down on July 28 due to nCoV infection.

On the social aspect, Professor Teo believes that complete isolation (blockade) should be considered a country’s last resort when dealing with Covid-19.

Referring to the fact that Vietnam has not yet found the source of the first infection, Professor Teo said that Vietnam does not need to find out, because FO could have recovered after 14 days.

Professor Teo affirmed that the essential measures that Vietnam needs to take are to trace all suspected cases and quarantine them early;

In addition, Professor Teo suggested that Vietnam should not rely too much on rapid tests due to the high error rate.

For people leaving Da Nang by bus, Professor Teo believes that they carry the same risk of infection to the community as people traveling by other means such as planes and ships.

Particularly in Da Nang, Professor Teo commented that the situation is quite complicated, because the hospital is where people infected with nCoV are.

Professor Yik-Ying Teo served as Director of Singapore’s Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDER) from 2015 – 2017. He is currently also a member of the Council of Scientists of the International Frontier Science Program (HSFP)

On August 1, Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long requested the quick release of Da Nang Hospital, reducing the presence of patients, family members and medical staff, considering this a priority task.

Da Nang also set up a field hospital in Tien Son sports area, expected to treat mild patients, with a capacity of 700 beds and can be increased to 1,000 beds.

Mentioning the risk of increased infections in localities, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City when tens of thousands of people return from Da Nang, Singaporean experts recommended that Vietnam should focus heavily on handling the epidemic within the week.

Professor Teo said that among the large number of tourists evacuated from Da Nang in the last week of July, there may have been people infected before returning to the provinces.

`I think next week is a decisive moment for Vietnam in stopping Covid-19,` Teo said.

Vietnamese-English