Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has affirmed that the country’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) testing capacity is greater than in comparison to when the first wave of the epidemic hit, with improvements made in terms of production of test kits and machines.

The remarks came during a recent meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, during which the Deputy PM outlined the nation’s desire to promote testing capacity under the guidance of the Ministry of Health, depending on if antibody testing, quick tests, or PCR , virus detection, are performed.

Despite these improvements, no amount of capacity increases will be enough to provide these things for all people in even a single province over such a short space of time. Therefore, an effective anti-epidemic solution must include early detection, fast tracing, and group testing, he added.

"Up to now, there have been locally transmitted cases in some localities, but mainly related to a cluster of three hospitals and a few other places from the hotspot in Da Nang. Therefore, if epidemic prevention measures continue to be put in place, especially tightened as they were a week ago, we are confident that the epidemic will not break out on a large scale", Deputy PM Dam said.

During the meeting, Acting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long explained that the testing strategy has been adjusted three times to take into account the expanding investigation of suspect cases, whilst also speeding up testing progress.

This strategy is being implemented with the aim of protecting people who are at high risk of infection, whilst quickly detecting infectious cases as a means of isolating them for timely treatment and zoning off areas to eradicate the pandemic as swiftly as possible, Acting Health Minister Long added.

With regard to the current epidemic situation, Ass. Prof. Tran Dac Phu, former Director of the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health, stated that recent anti-epidemic work in Da Nang has been implemented in a drastic, comprehensive, and effective manner.

It can be viewed that the outbreak in the central city, with the epicentre at Da Nang Hospital, has been brought under control, thereby limiting the spread of the virus among the wider community, Phu noted.

Despite these positives, he warned that ongoing pandemic developments at home and abroad remain very complicated, requiring localities to increase their vigilance, especially in areas that have a developed tourism industry.