Cases of disease appear sporadically in people with underlying diseases
According to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC), from May 9-16, the city recorded 23 cases of COVID-19, with no deaths. Accumulated from the beginning of 2025 to present, there have been 37 cases. Hanoi continues to maintain epidemic prevention and control measures at medical facilities and the community with a spirit of not being subjective but also not panicking.
Dr. Nguyen Thai Minh - Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Dong Da General Hospital - said that in the face of the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases, the hospital has fully prepared medicine, equipment, medical supplies and maintained 3 isolation rooms. Recently, the hospital has treated 3 cases of people with underlying diseases, children and the elderly.
At Ha Dong General Hospital, Dr. Tran Thi Kim Anh (Department of Tropical Diseases) said that the department is always ready for epidemic prevention with full equipment such as ventilators, oxygen systems, negative pressure control and an emergency medicine cabinet with enough essential medicine.
The National Children's Hospital recorded 2 cases of COVID-19 being treated but not too severe.
Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Bui Hai - Head of the Department of Emergency and Intensive Care (Hanoi Medical University Hospital) - said that Hoang Mai facility of Hanoi Medical University Hospital is treating 20 cases of COVID-19. However, the patients all have underlying diseases.
Mr. Khong Minh Tuan - Deputy Director of Hanoi CDC - said that the city is strengthening supervision at the community, hospitals and Noi Bai International Airport border gate. Medical forces are trained regularly, while people are advised to continue wearing masks in public places, wash their hands, improve their physical strength and go to medical facilities when there are suspicious symptoms.
No isolation or storage of tests
Dr. Truong Huu Khanh - Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Infectious Diseases Association - affirmed: The recent recording of COVID-19 cases is not a new phenomenon. Since the end of the epidemic, reports of COVID-19 cases have occurred many times. According to experts, the appearance of new infections is normal and there are no abnormalities.
Currently, the variety circulating in Thailand is likely to be present in Vietnam due to the rapid spread of the virus. XEC variation is considered mild, severe cases in Thailand mainly fall to people with underlying diseases, not normal people.
"To accurately assess whether COVID-19 is on the rise or not, there needs to be periodic monitoring data and statistics each year. If there are no tests, it is impossible to confirm an increase in cases. If COVID-19 is considered a common respiratory virus, travel is not a factor that increases the number of cases. Only new viruses and variants that do not have community immunity are worrying," said Dr. Truong Huu Khanh.
In terms of vaccines, most people have injected the Covid-19 vaccine from the Delta period. Currently, the Omicron variable is relatively pure for humans. Therefore, if the vaccine is injected, it is necessary to be a new update vaccine. The current preventive measure is still wearing a mask, washing your hands clean. The Covid-19 vaccine is no longer as strong as before, while the flu vaccine is still effective due to the seasonal production. The flu virus often changes and is closely monitored every year.
Dr. Truong Huu Khanh also recommends: Do not arbitrarily test or buy a test kit for home use. Currently, COVID-19 is classified as a group B, meaning that home isolation and limited exposure are required - similar to many other infectious diseases such as measles. Absolutely no quarantine is applied as before. The goal of isolation is to protect high-risk groups, especially in hospital environments.
When necessary, the hospital can still conduct tests and isolate patients, however, the current treatment of COVID-19 is similar to other respiratory diseases.
According to experts, the use of masks does not need to be too special - just a regular fabric mask is enough to protect.
Only new viruses, transmitted through respiratory tracts, without community immunity, can truly threaten public health. According to the assessment, there is currently no new worrying virus strain recorded. The possibility of a completely new virus appearing takes a few decades. Experts predict that in the next 2-3 weeks, information about COVID-19 will gradually decay.
Testing and testing kit do not increase prices as rumored
Before the news on social networks about the increase in masks and COVID-19 testing packages, Ms. Huong Hang - representative of the Asia Pharmacy System - affirmed that the current market is still stable, there is no phenomenon of "water splashing after rain".
We are not raising prices. On the contrary, some items are still decreasing slightly due to large inventories and purchasing power that have not shown signs of exploding" - Ms. Hang said.
Mr. Pham Sy - representative of the Nhat Vinh Pharmacy Group system - also affirmed: All items in this batch have kept prices unchanged, because the current supply is stable.
