Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 tourists after recording its first coronavirus cases in months

Da Nang is a central coastal city, which is very popular with domestic tourists. (Shutterstock)Da Nang is a central coastal city, which is very popular with domestic tourists. (Shutterstock)
Da Nang is a central coastal city, which is very popular with domestic tourists. (Shutterstock)

Vietnam is evacuating visitors and has closed Da Nang city to tourists after recording the country's first locally transmitted coronavirus cases since April.

Da Nang is a central coastal city, which is very popular with domestic tourists. Four new cases were recorded there, resulting in a ban on tourists entering the city for up to 14 days.

Additionally, the country is arranging new flights in order to evacuate up to 80,000 visitors.

How many cases has Vietnam had in total?

Vietnam has recorded just over 400 cases of Covid-19, and it has not yet recorded any coronavirus-related deaths.

The country has been internationally praised due to its early actions to prevent the spread, such as closing its borders, launching a contact tracing system and enforcing quarantine.

However, almost 100 days after its last recorded locally transmitted case, four new cases were found in the city of Da Nang.

Are the four cases related?

So far there is no established link between the four cases.

Contact tracing identified over 100 people who had interacted with the first person known to be infected since April. However, not one person out of the 100 tested positive for the virus.

The first new case was a 57 year old man who is currently on a ventilator in a critical condition, after first seeking medical care on 20 July for flu symptoms.

The authorities do not yet know where the virus was contracted and while they have confirmed that he had not recently left Da Nang, three more cases were confirmed over the weekend.

One of the infected parties had recently travelled on a coach with people who had been at the Da Nang C Hospital, where the first new case was being treated. Officials have not yet commented on any possible links between the new cases.

Local lockdown

Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, has reintroduced some lockdown measures for the city’s residents, such as social distancing and the closing of all non-essential businesses.

Tourism travel has been suspended for 14 days, while the government has also banned gatherings of more than 30 people. The country’s Prime Minister has so far decided against ordering a full lockdown of the city.

Officials have arranged for extra flights to take home the approximately 80,000 domestic tourists still in the city. These tourists may also be required to quarantine upon their return home.

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