The current COVID-19 testing capacity of Vietnam has been improved substantially, rising two- to three-fold from the previous outbreaks, said Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan.
A health worker at a testing labolatory (Photo: VNA)– The
current COVID-19 testing capacity of Vietnam has been improved substantially,
rising two- to three-fold from the previous outbreaks, said Deputy Minister of
Health Tran Van Thuan.
He made the remark at a
teleconference on May 13 with the National Institute of Hygiene and
Epidemiology, the Pasteur Institute, and testing establishments of the Ministry
of Health (MoH).
Thuan said laboratories
nationwide are now capable of testing 100,000 single samples per day, and the
capacity can increase by five- to ten-fold when it comes to pooled testing.
Vietnam has mastered
sufficient testing techniques to detect and diagnose the SARS-CoV-2
coronavirus, including the Read time RT-PCR for confirmatory testing, rapid antigen
testing, and rapid antibody testing, he went on.
Guidelines for each type of
testing and different scenarios, including the scenario of 30,000 infected
cases recorded in the country, have also been issued, the official noted,
asking the General Department of Preventive Medicine and the Administration of
Science, Technology and Training to hold regular meetings to share testing
experience and knowledge with other units and grassroots medical
establishments.
There are 175 testing labs
capable of conducting coronavirus tests nationwide at present, including 125 carrying
out confirmatory tests, according to Nguyen Minh Hang, Deputy Director of the General
Department of Preventive Medicine.
Compared to the previous
outbreaks, Vietnam’s testing capacity has improved “very quickly” in this
fourth wave of COVID-19 infections. Nearly 310,000 samples have been tested
since April 27, when the resurgence began, she said.
Health officials pointed out
that the COVID-19 situation remains complex in many countries, including some
sharing the borderlines with Vietnam.
Many countries and
territories have also recorded the emergence of new coronavirus variants that
are more transmissible and dangerous such as the variants first found in the UK
and India.
As of the noon on May 13,
Vietnam had reported 3,679 cases of COVID-19, including 2,234 local infections
and 1,445 imported ones./.