Residents of Kim Dien village, Hai Duong province, wait at the Cultural House for testing on the morning of January 28,2021 (Photo: VOV)

At the meeting, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the Ministry sent a working team to the localities to assist the local authorities in deploying epidemiological investigations and urgent epidemic controlling measures.

On Thursday morning, laboratory specialists from Bach Mai Hospital, Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Public Health and Hanoi University of Medicine arrived in Hai Duong to work on testing.

The Ministry of Health has instructed the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases to help Hai Duong province immediately establish a local treatment system, while severe cases can be transferred to the central hospitals for treatment.

The Ministry of Health sends medical staff to Hai Duong (Photo: VOV)

As of 6 am on Thursday, Vietnam recorded 1,553 cases of COVID-19, of whom 1,430 patients were cured, 35 patients died.

The newly confirmed case in Hai Duong, a female worker, is related to the woman patient found positive for the coronavirus upon her arrival in Osaka, Japan.

The other is a 31-year-old man from Hong Ha ward, Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, who is a staff member of Van Don airport. He displayed symptoms of fever, cough and sore-throat, and went to hospital for medical check-up himself. His test result turned out positive on Wednesday.

Both are now under treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No. 2 in Hanoi’s outskirts district of Dong Anh.