Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chairs the urgent meeting. (Photo: VNA)

Two locally-infected cases of COVID-19 were confirmed late January 27 in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, and the Health Ministry has immediately taken drastic actions to quickly stop the spread of the virus.

After being informed by Japan about a Vietnamese woman from Hai Duong province testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 upon entering Osaka, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long on January 27 sent a working team to the northern province to assist the local authorities in deploying epidemiological investigations and urgent epidemic controlling measures.

Late January 27, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Vu Duc Dam convened an urgent meeting with health authorities.

Following the meeting, Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen went to Hai Duong to directly instruct epidemic control work.

The health ministry will send testing experts of several central hospitals to Hai Duong to help with testing work on January 28 morning. (Photo: VNA)

After the two community cases were confirmed, Deputy PM Dam and Health Minister Long held an online meeting with the Health Ministry’s working team and local epidemic control authorities of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh to get updates on the progress of the situation.

At the meeting, the Health Minister said the ministry will send testing experts of several central hospitals to Hai Duong to help with testing work on January 28 morning.

Deputy PM Dam requested that Hai Duong must focus all resources on epidemic control, so as to isolate any outbreaks within 10 days. He noted that extra caution must be taken to ensure safety for frontline forces as the Japanese side said the infected case in Osaka involved the new variant of the virus.

Deputy PM Dam requested at an online meeting that Hai Duong must focus all resources on epidemic control, so as to isolate any outbreaks within 10 days. (Photo: VNA)

The newly confirmed case in Hai Duong, a female worker, is related to the woman patient found positive for the coronavirus upon her arrival in Osaka, Japan.

The other is a 31-year-old man from Hong Ha ward, Ha Long city, northern Quang Ninh province, who is a staff member of Van Don airport. He displayed symptoms of fever, cough and sore-throat, and went to hospital for medical check-up himself. His test result turned out positive on January 27.

Both are now under treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No. 2 in Hanoi’s outskirts district of Dong Anh.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam increased to 1,553./. VNA