By Khanh Vu and James Pearson
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam closed schools in 22 provinces ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday “Tet” and closed a ruling Communist Party congress on Monday morning, following the detection of a new group of coronavirus cases in the areas from the north last week.
Thanks to targeted mass tests and strict quarantine, Vietnam maintained its count of 1,850 cases and 35 deaths, gaining applause worldwide for one of the most successful national responses to the pandemic.
“We will have a difficult and special Tet ahead of us, but I am sure we will all get through this together,” said Vu Duc Dam, head of the country’s coronavirus task force, according to state media.
School closures affected more than a third of Vietnam’s provinces and cities.
Most of the new cases were recorded in Hai Duong, where 2,340 factory workers were isolated after a Vietnamese official contacted a person who tested positive for the most contagious British variant B.1.1.7 of the disease in Japan in mid- January.
‘BASICALLY UNDER CONTROL’
The outbreak first reported on Thursday has spread to at least nine cities and provinces. On Monday, the health ministry reported 33 more cases, most in the capital Hanoi.
Long told state media that the ministry would support Hanoi to increase its capacity to 40,000 tests a day.
On Friday, Vietnam’s health minister said the outbreak was “basically under control” in the most affected areas.
On Saturday, his deputy said authorities would try to contain the outbreak until February 6, before the Tet holiday, which begins on February 10.
The ruling Communist Party, which on Saturday re-selected party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, to serve for a rare third term, interrupted a five-year congress in one day amid the outbreak.
If the current outbreak is contained, it will be the fourth time that the Southeast Asian country has successfully fought and controlled the virus.
Vietnam’s success in containing the coronavirus so far, while its Southeast Asian neighbors struggle, is helping the country to advance economic growth and attract funds, analysts say.
(Additional reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Louise Heavens and Andrew Cawthorne)