Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien led a mission team to ensure measures against the new strain of virus. At the meeting, Binh said hospitals have been asked to be on round-the-clock vigil and remain alert for an increase of patients should a pandemic occur in the country.
The Tropical Disease Hospital will play a lead role in dispersing patients to other medical clinics along with adequate medical requirements.
The minister ordered a tight control of incoming passengers at Tan Son Nhat Airport, particularly those from affected countries.
Nguyen Van Sau, director of the International Quarantine Center in HCMC, said the airport receives around 10,000-15,000 international passengers via 100 flights a day. Last week it welcomed 64,000 passengers including 6,000 Chinese nationals, but none so far were detected with any such infection.
In related news, the Department of Health in the Mekong delta province of Dong Thap announced that the Pasteur Institute had reported the death of a four-year-old boy, Nguyen Duy Huy Hoang, from Tan Trung Hoi Commune in Cao Lanh District, from Avian Flu or A/H5N1 virus.
This is the first case in the province this year. The child ate poultry meat on March 25 and soon after suffered from fever, breathing problems and nausea. His family rushed him to the General Hospital in Cao Lanh District and later transferred him to the General Hospital in Dong Thap Province where he died on April 4.
The health watchdog is now concentrating on curbing the spread of the disease in Tan Hoi Trung Commune.
Source: SGGP
|