Vietnam enters day 20 without community transmission of Covid-19

Passengers wear face masks on a train connecting Hanoi with the northern port city of Hai Phong on April 24, 2020 after Vietnam eased its social distancing rules and allowed this train to resume operation. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

HANOI, May 6, 2020, VN Express. The Health Ministry confirmed no fresh Covid-19 case Wednesday morning, meaning the nation remained clear of community transmissions for 20 consecutive days. It also kept Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally at 271 from Sunday evening. Of these 232 have recovered and 39 are still under treatment, VN Express reported.

On Tuesday, Vietnam recorded one more relapse, with a 10-year-old boy in Ho Chi Minh City, “Patient 204,” testing positive for the novel coronavirus 25 days after being discharged. The boy marked the 10th relapse in the city and 15th nationwide.

Of the relapsed cases, two were discharged Tuesday.

After studying at least five virus samples taken from relapsed cases, health experts in Vietnam have confirmed that the virus is “inactive” and relapsed patients are unlikely to infect others.

Doctor Nguyen Van Kinh, head of the board in charge of treating Covid-19 patients at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, said what’s left inside the body of relapsed patients are just genetic fragments of the virus and there is no chance it can be transmitted to others.

“In terms of public health, we do not need to be afraid of relapses,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected 212 countries and territories, with almost 257,000 deaths reported so far.

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