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Coronavirus cases in Vietnam prompt mass quarantine of 10,000 people in Son Loi commune
- Vietnam shares a porous border with China, and has 16 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including six in the commune about 40km from Hanoi
- Vietnam has banned all flights to and from mainland China in a bid to stop the virus from spreading and has tightened restrictions on tourist visas
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Villages in Vietnam with 10,000 people close to the nation’s capital were placed under quarantine on Thursday after six cases of the deadly new coronavirus were discovered there, authorities said.
The locking down of the commune of Son Loi, about 40km from Hanoi, is the first mass quarantine outside China since the virus – which causes the disease officially known as Covid-19 – emerged from a central Chinese city late last year.
“As of February 13, 2020, we will urgently implement the task of isolation and quarantine of the epidemic area in Son Loi commune,” said a health ministry statement. “The timeline … is for 20 days”.
Son Loi is a farming region made up of several villages.
The health ministry previously said five people in Son Loi had been infected with the virus, and on Thursday reported a sixth case.
“Vinh Phuc has the highest number of positive cases in the country but the disease has not spread to other areas and provinces,” standing vice-chairman Le Duy Thanh told local media. “Everything is still under control. We are putting in every effort and believe we’ll be able to contain it.”
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