A man has his sample taken fors coronavirus test in HCMC,
July 6, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. 

With stringent social distancing requirements in place, HCMC has decided to send mobile teams to people’s homes to take samples for Covid-19 testing instead of at designated places. 

Since Directive 16 has been imposed for 15 days starting Friday, people are not allowed to go out except for buying food or medicines or seek medical treatment, and so the city would continue the mass testing by sending personnel to people's houses, Phan Van Mai, the city deputy Party chief, said at a meeting Friday.

"The goal of the mass Covid-19 screening in the next 15 days is to basically find all infections and separate them from the community."

One person from each household will be tested.

City vice chairman Ngo Minh Chau called on each district and ward to give priority to residential areas under lockdown and those deemed high-risk.

In other areas, anyone developing Covid symptoms such as fever and cough can inform local health authorities, and within an hour a mobile team will come to take samples for testing to prevent crowding at hospitals.

The city government has instructed districts to be "highly focused" so that the outbreak could be brought under control through the social distancing mandate.

Mai said: "We do not have much opportunity left. We have already agreed to sacrifice our interests, and so we have to do our best to ensure this sacrifice is worth it, and have the determination to win this battle."

The city began a mass testing campaign on June 26, and now targets collecting 1.3 million samples a day.

So far it has organized the tests at public places, even in areas under lockdown, with people gathering in large numbers.

The city has had more than 10,800 infections in the ongoing wave that broke out in late April.