Taking samples at Tan Binh Industrial Park
"At first, the mission said they had 20 members meeting in a 40-50 square metre room. But investigation showed that there were at least 55 people. The preacher's wife had symptoms on May 13 but four meetings were held after that. 70% of the members showed typical symptoms of having Covid-19," Binh said.
Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said this outbreak was dangerous and hard to control. He praised HCM City authorities for quickly apply social distancing rules.
"The first patient showed symptoms on May 13 and nearly two weeks later the cases were detected. The virus already spread and we may find more patient 0s in the future. HCM City authorities have to apply strict measures in the whole city, not just in Go Vap District, to curb the outbreak," Phong said. "Only when the measures are applied quickly enough and the outbreak is controlled can the local economy be reopened."
Chairman of HCM City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said 40 members of the mission had been designated as patient 0s and they caused a series of cases in 22 districts. More cases will be reported, but the situation is still under control. 80,000 samples were taken on May 31 alone. For the next step, the local authorities will test people who went to the same election spots as the patients.
Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh asked HCM City authorities to review their management and urged them to curb the outbreak in one to two weeks. Binh asked HCM City to tighten management over all religious groups, especially those that are more cult-like and attract members with less education.
He went on to ask the health sector to prepare response plans in cases there are 30,000 to 100,000 cases.
