Lang Son province, a northern province of Vietnam, will be taking samples of people coming to Vietnam from China if the travelers have symptoms such as fever, coughing, or difficulty breathing, the Vietnamese newspaper VnExpress reported.
Deputy head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, Nguyen Luong Tam, said this at a Monday meeting with the Lang Son Department of Health and authorities at the Huu Nghi border gate.
“Quick tests on all suspected cases right at the border gate is a necessary task to prevent Covid-19 in the future,” Tam said, as quoted by VnExpress newspaper.
He said that samples of those having symptoms such as coughing, fever, and difficulty breathing, will be taken on the spot. The samples, if negative, will be sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for genetic sequencing in order to detect variants.
Vuong Anh Duong, deputy head of the Department of Medical Service Administration, said the Ministry of Health’s current stance on COVID prevention is random testing and genetic sequencing so that appropriate responses can be formulated, VnExpress newspaper reported.
“Additionally, we also need to prepare to respond to cases of severe COVID and respiratory failure and to transport patients from the border gate to medical facilities,” Duong said.
Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg, recently, discouraged non-essential trips to China as the country struggles with a rapid surge in COVID cases post the Chinese government’s abandonment of its zero-COVID policy, reported Singapore based The Straits Times newspaper.
“We currently discourage non-essential trips to China. The reason is a peak in COVID infections and an overwhelmed health system,” the German foreign ministry said on its official Twitter handle.
Luxembourg’s foreign ministry in a statement said: “Luxembourg is aligning itself with the German travel advisory and is currently advising against non-essential travel to China.”
“Since December, China has been experiencing its biggest wave of infections due to the end of the zero-Covid policy. In view of the risk of hospital overcrowding and, consequently, the risk of not being able to be treated quickly in the event of an emergency, non-essential travel to China is not recommended for the time being,” Belgium’s foreign ministry said on its website.
Recently, ABC News reported that amidst a record increase in COVID infections in China, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the US would require a negative COVID test from all travelers arriving in the country from China as well as those from Hong Kong and Macau.
China on Monday said it would take reciprocal countermeasures against countries that have imposed entry restrictions on travelers from China, state media Global Times reported.