On the morning of May 5, Hanoi’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported a new positive SARS-CoV-2 case in the city. The patient, 32-year-old Đ.T.M.H., lives at K8765 Me Nhu, Thanh Khe District, Da Nang, and was a passenger on flight VN160 from Da Nang to Hanoi on April 29.
She visited several districts in Hanoi including Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Thanh Xuan, and Hai Ba Trung, stopping by many popular Old Quarter eateries and the 1900 Ta Hien bar. Around noon on April 30, she traveled to Sa Pa town in Lao Cai province for tourism.
Arriving in Sa Pa at 5 p.m., she checked into Pao Hotel. At 7:30 p.m., she had dinner at Do Quyen restaurant, then went for a foot massage near the town square (exact location unknown), returning to the hotel around 11 p.m. to rest.
On the morning of May 1, she ate breakfast at the hotel and took a city tour by car. In the afternoon, she visited Cat Cat Village before returning to the hotel. In the evening, she dined at Anh Dung restaurant and strolled around town.
On May 2, she had breakfast at the hotel, then at 9:30 a.m. went to the Fansipan summit via cable car. In the afternoon, she ate at Lien Ton rice restaurant across from Anh Dung, then took a car back to Hanoi.
Speaking with us on May 5, Vuong Trinh Quoc, Chairman of Sa Pa town, said that once they received the information from Hanoi CDC, the local COVID-19 task force held an urgent meeting to respond.
“We contacted the patient’s travel companion to check if there were any other locations besides those already announced. We are conducting rapid contact tracing because her movements were quite complex,” Mr. Quoc explained.
All places the patient visited, including cafes, hotels, and clothing shops, have been closed and disinfected. Sa Pa authorities quickly traced contacts and classified them into F1 and F2 groups. F1 contacts have been tested and sent to centralized quarantine, F2 contacts are required to isolate at home. The town has also opened an additional quarantine site and will use provincial facilities if needed.
The Pao Hotel where the patient stayed is under lockdown, with all staff quarantined on site.
Regarding the Fansipan cable car, Mr. Quoc said they coordinated with management to identify the patient’s movements. She took the cable car on May 2, during a period of low tourist volume.
“Fortunately, she only boarded the cable car, entered the station, got into the cabin, and returned. The management strictly enforces mask-wearing and denies service to anyone without one, which helps limit transmission,” he said.
Mr. Quoc added that Sa Pa has activated its full rapid response team and raised its COVID-19 prevention level by one step. They are prepared to act swiftly if more cases appear locally to prevent widespread transmission.
Authorities have urged communes to inform residents widely and limit travel, especially in the town center. They are also tracking employees at restaurants and hotels visited by the patient to contain and manage the situation.
“We will also review street vendors, taxi and motorbike drivers as priority groups for testing,” Mr. Quoc emphasized.
