On the evening of October 11, Lao Cai Center for Disease Control informed that as of 4:00 p.m. the same day, the number of students of Lao Cai College hospitalized was 59 (of which 53 cases were treated at Hung Thinh General Hospital, 6 cases were treated at the Provincial General Hospital).
In addition, 12 cases with mild digestive disorders were monitored and treated at the dormitory of Lao Cai College.
Currently, 5/59 cases have been discharged from the hospital. The health of the remaining cases is stable, the disease has improved slightly, and they are expected to be discharged in the next 1-2 days.
As reported, on the afternoon of October 9, a number of students in dormitory 1 of Lao Cai College showed symptoms of digestive disorders, including fever, vomiting, stomachache, and diarrhea after having lunch at the school's canteen.
Immediately after being discovered, these students were taken by the school and their families to Hung Thinh General Hospital for treatment.
On October 10, the Lao Cai Province Food Safety Branch established two working groups, one of which conducted an epidemiological investigation of cases of students with symptoms of digestive disorders being treated at Hung Thinh General Hospital.
The remaining interdisciplinary inspection team will conduct surprise inspections of food safety regulations at kitchens and related food supply establishments.
To determine the exact cause of the incident, the Provincial Food Safety Branch coordinated with the Lao Cai Disease Control Center to collect samples of domestic water, drinking water and food samples used on October 8 and 9 to send to the testing agency to determine the cause.
Also on October 10, Lao Cai College issued a notice to temporarily suspend the operation of the kitchen service at facility 1 until there is an official conclusion from the authorities.
It is known that the kitchen service at Lao Cai College 1 has been operating since August 2023. On average, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on weekdays, the facility provides about 100 meals for students.
