Vientiane (VNA) – As the COVID-19 situation is gettingworse in Laos, the country is accelerating contact tracing in order to stopCOVID-19 infection from spreading.

The Lao Ministry of Health said within the past 24 hours, the countryrecorded 331 new cases of COVID-19, of which 296 were community cases. Theministry said the capital area is still a COVID-19 hotspot as it continued torecord the highest number of community infections in a day with 176 cases. Todate, the total number of COVID-19 infections in Laos is 19,730, including 16 deaths.

The Vientiane Department of Health is carrying out contact tracing ofpatients in recent community cases in an effort to control the risk of alarge-scale outbreak.At the same time, the Vientiane Capital Government also asked supermarketsand convenience stores to close during the city's lockdown to prevent thespread of COVID-19. Food markets can open and only sell agricultural andfresh produce, while strictly following epidemic prevention measures. Gasstations can operate normally but must close before 6pm daily.

Many provinces also re-imposed lockdowns to curb the spread of the pandemic. Houphane has suspended all inter-provincial transport activities and those who want to enter the province must show certificates of fully vaccination and stay in quarantine for 14 days. Salavan province still keeps in place the lockdown order since September 10.

Meanwhile, some provinces of Laos, such as Houphane, Xiangkhouang, Attapeu and Savannakhet allow schools that are not in thered zone to reopen, provided that they strictly comply with epidemic preventionregulations provinces.For schools that cannot reopen yet, teachers and students are encouraged toteach and learn online, using electronic platforms and databases developed bythe Ministry of Education and Sports./.