Hanoi (VNA) - TheMinistry of Health (MoH) on January 21 issued an urgent dispatch on preventionand control of the acute pneumonia disease outbreak from China.

The dispatch askedhospitals and clinics nationwide to set up measures for early detection andprevention to the disease, caused by novel coronavirus (nCoV).

According to the dispatch, allhospitals must set up rapid reaction teams to confront the high risk of thedisease spreading.

Vietnam was at high riskof transmitting the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus from China,said Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the MoH’s Medical Examination andTreatment Department.

To cope with the disease,classification of patients would be implemented at the registration desksand patients with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection such as coughand fever must be isolated and examined in separate sections in hospitalsor clinics.

Those who were in China withinthe last 14 days must be checked in terms of epidemiological factors.

If acute pneumonia issuspected, hospitals must temporarily isolate the patient and notifypreventive health agencies to take samples.

Health workers must followdisease precaution standards such as wearing masks and regularly washing handswhen examining patients with symptoms of acute respiratory infection.

Hospitals and clinics mustprepare isolation areas and resuscitation medications as well as check medicalequipment such as breathing machines, patient monitoring machines, personalprotective equipment, and disinfectant chemicals.

Healthcare entities were toldto strictly follow the instructions of diagnosis and treatment for thenCoV-pneumonia by the MoH issued on January 16. 

They were also urged to spreadawareness among healthcare workers and citizens to detect and control thedisease as well as to encourage people to report their travel history incountries affected by the disease.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Xuan Tuyen said Vietnam hasn’t recorded any cases of infection. However, the entry of this disease into the country is completely possible since Vietnam has constant trading and tourism activities with China.

In January and February, the MoH will send more working groups to examine disease prevention and control at hospitals and localities bordering China. It has also ordered localities to take active measures to prevent the disease and stay ready to handle and treat infection cases if there are any.

The ministry will also keep close coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to update people on the latest information about this disease, Tuyen added.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam recently required the Health Ministry to ensure sufficient facilities and medical materials, as well as make sure staff is properly trained.

According to the World Health Organisation, cases of acute pneumonia caused by nCoV were reported in Wuhan city of China’s Hubei province. The first patient developed symptoms on December 12, 2019. So far, China has reported 440 people infected with the disease, which killed nine people. Two other cases have been detected in Thailand and Japan with health authorities in both countries saying the patients had visited Wuhan prior to their hospitalisation.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause illness in the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tract of humans and some animals. They can spread through direct contact with respiratory secretions of patients.

In humans, coronaviruses cause illnesses in winter and early spring, ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

The new strain of coronavirus has caused comparisons to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed nearly 650 people in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002 and 2003.

The WHO has confirmed that the new coronavirus could be contagious between humans./.