HANOI: Vietnam's recent COVID-19 outbreak in the central city of Danang, which led to more than 200 cases and eight deaths, appears to have started early in July, the government said on Tuesday (Aug 4), amid concern the virus may have been spreading undetected earlier.
"After having conducted antibody tests on 5,000 samples collected from infected patients and their relatives, it can be concluded that the outbreak appears to have started in early July," Dang Duc Anh, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said in a government statement.
Vietnam has registered 670 COVID-19 cases in total, with eight deaths as of Tuesday.
The countryhad gone 100 days without community transmission until the virus resurfaced on Jul 25 in Danang. More than 200 people have since been infected, with the majority in Danang.