Abstract
We report on the public health response generated by an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that occurred during March 2020 at Bach Mai Hospital (BMH) in Hanoi, northern Vietnam’s largest hospital complex. On March 18, a total of 3 distinct clusters of COVID-19 cases were identified at BMH. Diagnosis of the initial 3 COVID-19 cases led to contact tracing, symptom screening, and testing of 495 persons and limited quarantine of affected institutes or departments. When 27 staff members in the catering company tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the entire BMH staff (7,664 persons) was put under quarantine. Contact tracing in the community resulted in an additional 52,239 persons being quarantined. After 3 weeks, the hospital outbreak was contained; no further spread occurred in the hospital. Rapid screening of cases, extensive testing, prompt quarantine, contact tracing, and social distancing contributed to prevent community transmission in Hanoi and northern Vietnam.
Highlights
We report on the public health response generated by an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that occurred during March 2020 at Bach Mai Hospital (BMH) in Hanoi, northern Vietnam’s largest hospital complex
Timeline and Outbreak Management at BMH During March 18–April 14, a total of 46 laboratoryconfirmed COVID-19 cases were detected at BMH
She had multiple contacts with Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) staff during lunch and break periods, including the patient with case 87, a 33-year-old female nurse working at the COVID-19 screening clinic who developed fever (38.5°C) and dry cough on March 18 and had a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 on the same day (Figure 2)
Summary
We report on the public health response generated by an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that occurred during March 2020 at Bach Mai Hospital (BMH) in Hanoi, northern Vietnam’s largest hospital complex. Extensive testing, prompt quarantine, contact tracing, and social distancing contributed to prevent community transmission in Hanoi and northern Vietnam. During January 22–February 13, a total of 16 cases were detected in Vietnam during the first COVID-19 epidemic phase. Among these were 3 cases that were imported from Hubei Province in China to Vinh Phuc, a province near Hanoi; these 3 patients transmitted COVID-19 to 8 other persons, among them a 3-month-old infant [8]. An entire commune of 10,600 persons was placed in lockdown for 3 weeks This early response and containment strategy was effective in preventing community transmission during the first phase of the pandemic, and all 16 patients have fully recovered from their illnesses [9]
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