Vietnam confirms first Omicron infection
The Ministry of Health on December 28 revealed that a person arriving in Hanoi from the U.K. has been confirmed as Vietnam's first COVID-19 case with the Omicron variant.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Health's surveillance system and a preliminary report produced by the 108 Military Central Hospital on December 19, the Central Military Hospital 108 received one case of the variant.
The hospital has also collected a specimen from the patient and confirmed the infection using RT-PCR.
Following the health ministry’s order to conduct genomic sequencing of foreign arrivals infected with SARS-CoV-2, the hospital on December 20 analysed the man’s specimen using a sequencer made by Oxford Nanopore Technologies and he was suspected to have contracted Omicron variant but it was not conclusive due to the many deletion mutations of the variant.
A day later, the hospital again conducted genome sequencing for the patient and confirmed he was carrying the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529).
The Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic in general and the possibility of Omicron infections in particular. The ministry recommends people strictly comply with COVID-19 prevention and control measures and be fully vaccinated.
In response to the detection of the first Omicron case, the Hanoi People’s Committee has sent an official dispatch to the People’s Committees of districts and relevant agencies regarding the implementation of pandemic prevention measures toward immigrants.
Accordingly, all passengers who have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine or have recovered from the disease have to monitor their health at residence, hotels or guest houses for three days. They are not allowed to leave their residence. They must take the SARS-CoV-2 test on the third day since arrival and continue to have their health monitored for 14 days if the results turn out negative.
Omicron, first identified in late November, has raised fresh alarms due to its high number of mutations and higher transmissibility. Around 80 countries and territories have detected the variant, including many in the Asia-Pacific like Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
