Ho Chi Minh Minh City authorities are set to expand COVID-19 testing for passengers on repatriation flights, patients in hospitals who are suffering from serious illnesses, in addition to workers and experts in industrial and processing zones, in the build up to the Lunar New Year holiday, known locally as Tet.

Information regarding the increase in testing was confirmed by Nguyen Tan Binh, director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Health, during a press conference held on December 1.

Binh stated that following the community recording two cases of COVID-19 through Patient No. 1,342, the risk of COVID-19 spreading on repatriation flights remains extremely high.

The local administration has therefore decided to expand testing as part of a range of suitable measures aimed at ramping up COVID-19 prevention and control measures ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Furthermore, the press conference saw Nguyen Tri Dung, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, note that security around quarantine areas will be tightened after patient No. 1,342 violated several regulations regarding COVID-19 prevention measures.

This will see flight attendants who work on repatriation flights required to remain in isolation for a period of 14 days, whilst they must test negative for COVID-19 at least twice before being permitted to leave.

The male flight attendant who was confirmed as patient No. 1,342 violated disease prevention regulations while supposedly in quarantine at home, therefore spreading the virus to another man, patient No.1347.