The Ministry of National Defence’s military medical department on March 19 provided training on novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) testing for health workers of military medical units as the virus continues to spread widely in Vietnam.

Health workers of military medical units take part in a training course on novel
coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) testing on March 19. (Photo: VNA)

Health workers from the country’s major military medical units, including 108 Military Central Hospital, 103 Military Hospital, Military Institute of Preventive Medicine and Vietnam – Russia Tropical Centre (Hanoi), 175 Military Hospital, Military Centre of Preventive Medicine in the South (Ho Chi Minh City) received training on how to properly conduct coronavirus testing.

They were instructed on how to safely collect and handle human specimens for testing; to correctly perform testing for SARS-CoV-2 using Real-time PCR technology; and to analyse the results.

The department’s deputy chief Colonel Nguyen Huu My said the Ministry of Health has authorized a selected number of military medical units to perform testing for the novel coronavirus in order to keep up with the growing number of suspected cases across the country.

The training course is important as it allows the medical staff to early and correctly confirm whether a person carries the virus, he said.

After the course, these military facilities are qualified to conduct the coronavirus testing, alongside dozens of hospitals and medical institutes nationwide, such as Bach Mai Hospital; National Hospital of Peadiatrics; Hanoi Centre for Disease Control; National Hospital of Tropical Diseases; National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology; Pasteur Institutes in HCM City and Nha Trang; Hospital of Tropical Diseases in HCM City; Cho Ray Hospital; and Hue Central Hospital; among others.