Vietnam's capital faces shortage of testing kits as COVID-19 cases rise

On August 4, Vietnam witnessed 10 new cases of COVID-19 infection which brought the tally of cases to 652, with a total of eight deaths. According to international media reports, Hanoi is running short COVID-19 testing kits which has compounded the crisis.

At the initial stage of the outbreak, Vietnam had controlled the virus with strict quarantine and targeted testing methods. However, recent media reports suggest that new clusters are making the fight against the virus tough for Vietnam.

The latest outbreak is reported to have infected more than 200 people since July 25 and while the majority of the cases first appeared in central city of Danang, it has spread to at least eight other cities and provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Two Coffee growing central highlands, Danang and Buon Ma Thuot, have been placed under lockdown.

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Shortage of Kits 

As per media reports, more than 88,000 people have returned to Hanoi from Danang since July 8, but only 70,689 were tested and only two people were found positive. Authorities have cited a shortage of rapid testing kits for the gap in numbers.

The administration is planning to assign Hanoi medical institutions and hospitals to boost testing capacity. The rapid test kits, which can diagnose a blood sample in minutes but are prone to inaccuracies, are used to identify potential positive cases which are then confirmed with the more accurate swab-based Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test.

(Image Credit AP)

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