Mandatory COVID Testing after Đà Nẵng visit Since 1/7/2020

We have been discussing the latest Đà Nẵng outbreak in this thread;

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=899006

People say the Covid test is very painful (15 cm by the nose, pain during one hour), anyone here have ever experienced it?

FabriceVN wrote:

People say the Covid test is very painful (15 cm by the nose, pain during one hour), anyone here have ever experienced it?

My brother had it in Saigon, said it was rather uncomfortable.

FabriceVN wrote:

People say the Covid test is very painful (15 cm by the nose, pain during one hour), anyone here have ever experienced it?

Uncomfortable but not really painful and only for a few seconds.  The discomfort of the test has been greatly exaggerated.  I am not really sure what is the motivation of those who do so.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

We have been discussing the latest Đà Nẵng outbreak in this thread;

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=899006

I too was thinking that maybe a new thread was needed but did it really have to be a sticky thread?  I assume that it will have many entries keeping it near the top.  Hopefully after the current crisis is over, you will ask the moderators to unstick it as you seem to have a special relationship.

Not true, just slight discomfort

thanks for the info...I had been looking for my travel dates as I wasn't sure the last time to Da Nang....was mid May so I'm good.  Just will check in with my landlord to make sure i'm good with the  people's people...er I mean the people's committee.

def1412 wrote:

thanks for the info...I had been looking for my travel dates as I wasn't sure the last time to Da Nang....was mid May so I'm good.  Just will check in with my landlord to make sure i'm good with the  people's people...er I mean the people's committee.

Personally, if I were in your situation, I don't think I would mention it to anybody because May doesn't seem to be a time that's currently drawing concern.

So checking in with somebody about it will probably only draw attention to you that you might not want.

Believe me they will find you if they need to...

I'll go ahead and use this thread to update:

I'm currently in Danang and I've now accepted the offer of the Tourism Committee (through my current hotel) to apply for a flight out of here to either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, times and dates to be determined.

http://mnews.chinhphu.vn/story.aspx?did=403047

It just seems that if I stay here I'm going to be in my nice safe hotel for probably longer than 2 weeks, whereas if I fly to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi now, I'll only be in quarantine for two weeks, and then free to move about.

The city of Hanoi is my first choice because I already had some tentative business appointments there for August.

If I'm going to Ho Chi Minh City, I know one of the hotels there that's eligible for foreigners, and I'll be content to stay there.

After two weeks I could return to Vung Tau.

My hotel friends in Hanoi are currently checking for me to see which hotels will be available should I end up there.

More news as it happens...

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I'll go ahead and use this thread to update:

I'm currently in Danang and I've now accepted the offer of the Tourism Committee (through my current hotel) to apply for a flight out of here to either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, times and dates to be determined.

[link removed by me]

It just seems that if I stay here I'm going to be in my nice safe hotel for probably longer than 2 weeks, whereas if I fly to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi now, I'll only be in quarantine for two weeks, and then free to move about.

The city of Hanoi is my first choice because I already had some tentative business appointments there for August.

If I'm going to Ho Chi Minh City, I know one of the hotels there that's eligible for foreigners, and I'll be content to stay there.

After two weeks I could return to Vung Tau.

My hotel friends in Hanoi are currently checking for me to see which hotels will be available should I end up there.

More news as it happens...

An English language story about the flights in Danang Today news site:

https://baodanang.vn/english/business/2 … g-3570945/

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

def1412 wrote:

thanks for the info...I had been looking for my travel dates as I wasn't sure the last time to Da Nang....was mid May so I'm good.  Just will check in with my landlord to make sure i'm good with the  people's people...er I mean the people's committee.

Personally, if I were in your situation, I don't think I would mention it to anybody because May doesn't seem to be a time that's currently drawing concern.

So checking in with somebody about it will probably only draw attention to you that you might not want.

Believe me they will find you if they need to...

Thanks that gave me a chuckle....I believe I will take the low profile approach.

def1412:  I find it a bit ironic that you are looking to avoid being tested when people in Texas, where you were living before coming to Vietnam, are lining up for hours hoping to be tested.  Texas testing

THIGV wrote:

def1412:  I find it a bit ironic that you are looking to avoid being tested when people in Texas, where you were living before coming to Vietnam, are lining up for hours hoping to be tested.  Texas testing

You probably would (virtue signaling) but look out your window....it's Viet Nam out there, not Texas.  And I was in Sai Gon long before we knew there was a wuhan virus.

Have a great day. 
Ken

def1412 wrote:

THIGV wrote:

def1412:  I find it a bit ironic that you are looking to avoid being tested when people in Texas, where you were living before coming to Vietnam, are lining up for hours hoping to be tested.  Texas testing

... look out your window....it's Viet Nam out there, not Texas...

If THIGV can see Vietnam from Hawaii, then: 🎶...He's got Sarah Palin Eyes...🎶

So he's an expat from the U.S. living in Hawaii.....last I looked, Hawaii  is a state so he's an expat from..., or has the brown acid kicked in...finally.

I still don't see why the reluctance to be tested.  If you were positive, wouldn't you want to know?  I realize that in Vietnam, a positive result may put you in a strict quarantine, but isn't that better for all your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?  Isn't protecting them your ethical responsibility?

???

THIGV wrote:

I still don't see why the reluctance to be tested.  If you were positive, wouldn't you want to know?  I realize that in Vietnam, a positive result may put you in a strict quarantine, but isn't that better for all your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?  Isn't protecting them your ethical responsibility?

More virtue signalling from the U.S.   Geez.  If you were here you would realize you sound foolish....read  my original comment to OceanBeach.

Ken

THIGV wrote:

I still don't see why the reluctance to be tested.  If you were positive, wouldn't you want to know?  I realize that in Vietnam, a positive result may put you in a strict quarantine, but isn't that better for all your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?  Isn't protecting them your ethical responsibility?

I agree why try and avoid being tested if required to do so ? That mentality is exactly how some peopl managed to cross illegally in to VN bypassing testing and quarantine requirements, moving freely spreading the virus as they go

Jlgarbutt wrote:

THIGV wrote:

I still don't see why the reluctance to be tested.  If you were positive, wouldn't you want to know?  I realize that in Vietnam, a positive result may put you in a strict quarantine, but isn't that better for all your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?  Isn't protecting them your ethical responsibility?

I agree why try and avoid being tested if required to do so ? That mentality is exactly how some peopl managed to cross illegally in to VN bypassing testing and quarantine requirements, moving freely spreading the virus as they go

He's NOT required to do so.

Everybody take care of your own obligations.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

THIGV wrote:

I still don't see why the reluctance to be tested.  If you were positive, wouldn't you want to know?  I realize that in Vietnam, a positive result may put you in a strict quarantine, but isn't that better for all your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?  Isn't protecting them your ethical responsibility?

I agree why try and avoid being tested if required to do so ? That mentality is exactly how some peopl managed to cross illegally in to VN bypassing testing and quarantine requirements, moving freely spreading the virus as they go

Because I am well outside the criteria for the time frame they are interested in....you should read the thread before you criticize....

def1412 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

THIGV wrote:

I still don't see why the reluctance to be tested.  If you were positive, wouldn't you want to know?  I realize that in Vietnam, a positive result may put you in a strict quarantine, but isn't that better for all your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?  Isn't protecting them your ethical responsibility?

I agree why try and avoid being tested if required to do so ? That mentality is exactly how some peopl managed to cross illegally in to VN bypassing testing and quarantine requirements, moving freely spreading the virus as they go

Because I am well outside the criteria for the time frame they are interested in....you should read the thread before you criticize....

Regardless of time frame if I had been somewhere that was a covid risk I would be more inclined to be tested. After all despite every nation imposing social distancing there is a spike of new cases.

No one knows for sure who they meet in the street or offices of they have been exposed.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

def1412 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

I agree why try and avoid being tested if required to do so ? That mentality is exactly how some peopl managed to cross illegally in to VN bypassing testing and quarantine requirements, moving freely spreading the virus as they go

Because I am well outside the criteria for the time frame they are interested in....you should read the thread before you criticize....

Regardless of time frame if I had been somewhere that was a covid risk I would be more inclined to be tested. After all despite every nation imposing social distancing there is a spike of new cases.

No one knows for sure who they meet in the street or offices of they have been exposed.

So go ahead. Get tested right now. Set the example for all of us.

But wait, are you going to get hermetically sealed and stay inside a building somewhere?

Because if not, the moment you step outside of your building you're going to need to get tested again, because your test is only good for that one moment in time.

So everybody on here who's going outside to get some groceries or buy something else that's essential, then every time you go outside anywhere you will need to be tested again and again and again and again, based on your rationalism.

I would call you guys self-righteous except I think you're just caught up in hysteria.

He said very clearly that he was in Danang in MAY and if you read MY OP,  you will note it's only people who have been in Danang since the 1st of July who are likely to be subject to required testing.

Actually, he quite admirably suggested that perhaps he should get tested, even though it was May.

I'm the one who told him that it was so far out of the requirement zone that he shouldn't even bother.

And I think I gave him wise advice.

There's no reason for him to be calling up somebody and saying well I need to be tested because I was in Danang 3 months ago.

Good grief!

Hello everyone,

Please let's not take some friendly banter between OceanBeach92107 and def1412 so literally. It would be a bit pointless to do so. 

Thanks,

Diksha
Team Expat.com

Jlgarbutt wrote:

def1412 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

I agree why try and avoid being tested if required to do so ? That mentality is exactly how some peopl managed to cross illegally in to VN bypassing testing and quarantine requirements, moving freely spreading the virus as they go

Because I am well outside the criteria for the time frame they are interested in....you should read the thread before you criticize....

Regardless of time frame if I had been somewhere that was a covid risk I would be more inclined to be tested. After all despite every nation imposing social distancing there is a spike of new cases.

No one knows for sure who they meet in the street or offices of they have been exposed.

Once more your virtue pedaling just gets in the way of any remote chance of taking you seriously. I would have to ask the question since there's been recent Corona virus cases in Saigon have you been tested? How many times have you been tested?    This government and the Ministry of Health have enough things to deal with of a serious nature then to take the mindset of the likes of you anywhere close to being serious.  It's virtue Peddler's like yourself that can actually cause Panic where there does not need to be any. You should learn to become a responsible person. Instead of trying to accuse others of being irresponsible.

def1412 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

def1412 wrote:

Because I am well outside the criteria for the time frame they are interested in....you should read the thread before you criticize....

Regardless of time frame if I had been somewhere that was a covid risk I would be more inclined to be tested. After all despite every nation imposing social distancing there is a spike of new cases.

No one knows for sure who they meet in the street or offices of they have been exposed.

Once more your virtue pedaling just gets in the way of any remote chance of taking you seriously. I would have to ask the question since there's been recent Corona virus cases in Saigon have you been tested? How many times have you been tested?    This government and the Ministry of Health have enough things to deal with of a serious nature then to take the mindset of the likes of you anywhere close to being serious.  It's virtue Peddler's like yourself that can actually cause Panic where there does not need to be any. You should learn to become a responsible person. Instead of trying to accuse others of being irresponsible.

Which government are you referring to ?

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

def1412 wrote:

Because I am well outside the criteria for the time frame they are interested in....you should read the thread before you criticize....

Regardless of time frame if I had been somewhere that was a covid risk I would be more inclined to be tested. After all despite every nation imposing social distancing there is a spike of new cases.

No one knows for sure who they meet in the street or offices of they have been exposed.

So go ahead. Get tested right now. Set the example for all of us.

But wait, are you going to get hermetically sealed and stay inside a building somewhere?

Because if not, the moment you step outside of your building you're going to need to get tested again, because your test is only good for that one moment in time.

So everybody on here who's going outside to get some groceries or buy something else that's essential, then every time you go outside anywhere you will need to be tested again and again and again and again, based on your rationalism.

I would call you guys self-righteous except I think you're just caught up in hysteria.

He said very clearly that he was in Danang in MAY and if you read MY OP,  you will note it's only people who have been in Danang since the 1st of July who are likely to be subject to required testing.

Actually, he quite admirably suggested that perhaps he should get tested, even though it was May.

I'm the one who told him that it was so far out of the requirement zone that he shouldn't even bother.

And I think I gave him wise advice.

There's no reason for him to be calling up somebody and saying well I need to be tested because I was in Danang 3 months ago.

Good grief!

HCM at least for now is a lower risk area than Da Nang where a lot of if not most new cases seem to be traceable back to.

As I said before NO ONE knows for any certainty how long the virus can survive in every circumstance - untill every surface and environmental condition can be tested and proven Covid can only survive X number of days then there remains a risk. If I had been to Da Nang in the last few months i would be up for testing for sure.

Whenever they uncover plague pits in the UK despite being buried for long periods of time they still check and test carefully - who is to say with any guarantee that the same risk cannot be present with covid ?

One final (and I mean this) comment.  You say that you left Da Nang in mid-May.  The sailor on the USS Roosevelt was infected on or soon after 5 March which indicates that the virus was present in the city that far back.  My last "virtue signal."

It is wise to not under estimate life's tenacity:

Scientists have succeeded in reviving microbes retrieved from sediment deep under the seafloor in the heart of the South Pacific that had survived in a dormant state for 101.5 million years in research illustrating the resiliency of life on Earth.
100 Million Year Old Microbes Brought to Life

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Even if you haven't been in Đà Nẵng since the latest outbreak began, if you WERE there since July 1st, 2020 you will likely face similar requirements to report to the local office of the Ministry of Health in your current location:

HCMC requirements listed in this article:

https://en.thesaigontimes.vn/tinbaichitiet/77775/

Here is a very well-written piece from the BBC on the current COVID-19 Coronavirus uptick in Vietnam (all traced to here in Đà Nẵng) including the point that all 10 deaths were people with other comorbidities/preexisting conditions.

They did a good interview with my friend Mai Xuan Tu of "Da Nang, Hoi An and Hue with Xuan Tu Vietnam Private Tours".

People in Vietnam may not be able to view this link in your internet browser without a VPN:

bbc.com/news/world-asia-53690711

Does anyone know how quick you get results in HCMC after you get the test?

expatec wrote:

Does anyone know how quick you get results in HCMC after you get the test?

Depends.  The residents on 12th floor of the condo tower in Bình Thạnh where patient 326 used to live got their results the next day.  That's on June 29-30 though, before Da Nang happened and thousands of people  who returned from their trips to Da Nang needed to be tested.

Ciambella wrote:

expatec wrote:

Does anyone know how quick you get results in HCMC after you get the test?

Depends.  The residents on 12th floor of the condo tower in Bình Thạnh where patient 326 used to live got their results the next day.  That's on June 29-30 though, before Da Nang happened and thousands of people  who returned from their trips to Da Nang needed to be tested.

Thanks, I have to get one and think I will go to the Pasteur Institute for mine. Has anyone got one there, by any chance know the cost?

I am a but nervous as well, that I will catch it while being in the hospital for the test.

expatec wrote:

Thanks, I have to get one and think I will go to the Pasteur Institute for mine. Has anyone got one there, by any chance know the cost?

I am a but nervous as well, that I will catch it while being in the hospital for the test.

Pasteur in Saigon has the capacity to check 2,000 samples/day.  Apparently that's far from enough because the Institute reported to the Ministry of Health that it needs to increase its capacity to 5,000 - 10,000 samples/day.

What that means is as the wait at the moment may be quite long, it's not a guarantee that you'll be tested unless you have a justifiable reason (you were in Da Nang last month and now have some symptoms, for instance.)

Wear double masks and gloves while you're in any hospital, dispose them once you're out, then replace the old masks with a new mask.  No need to wear gloves outside of hospital.

Ciambella wrote:

expatec wrote:

Thanks, I have to get one and think I will go to the Pasteur Institute for mine. Has anyone got one there, by any chance know the cost?

I am a but nervous as well, that I will catch it while being in the hospital for the test.

Pasteur in Saigon has the capacity to check 2,000 samples/day.  Apparently that's far from enough because the Institute reported to the Ministry of Health that it needs to increase its capacity to 5,000 - 10,000 samples/day.

What that means is as the wait at the moment may be quite long, it's not a guarantee that you'll be tested unless you have a justifiable reason (you were in Da Nang last month and now have some symptoms, for instance.)

Wear double masks and gloves while you're in any hospital, dispose them once you're out, then replace the old masks with a new mask.  No need to wear gloves outside of hospital.

I had no idea there would be such a demand to get tested?

I am getting it for a visa to travel to another country and I know others have used FV without any waits or necessary reason other than that same reason. I just don't want to go so far to get it done.

I also didn't even think about wearing gloves...but good tip. Thanks!

You don't wear gloves when you go into a healthcare testing facility or any Hospital. Have you ever tried washing gloves with alcohol sanitizer? It doesn't work. So you go prepared with your own sanitizer. Because they certainly won't simply accept the fact that you are wearing gloves so you are safe.
There is no scientific justification that a second mask over a first mask is any more effective, unless the first mask is simply one layer of cloth. Most masks are now three layers of cloth and that's what you want, one of them.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

You don't wear gloves when you go into a healthcare testing facility or any Hospital. Have you ever tried washing gloves with alcohol sanitizer? It doesn't work. So you go prepared with your own sanitizer. Because they certainly won't simply accept the fact that you are wearing gloves so you are safe.
There is no scientific justification that a second mask over a first mask is any more effective, unless the first mask is simply one layer of cloth. Most masks are now three layers of cloth and that's what you want, one of them.

I suggested double masking because that's what health care workers in AZ are doing.  My cousin is one of the nurses wearing two masks and a shield.  Their photos are on FB.  The masks are those disposable blue colour that everyone in VN is wearing.  In fact, they were sent from VN as gifts to the hospital, together with face shields.

The woman who's working for the new restaurant in VT which I've been helping to open had to go for medical exam as a requirement for her job.  She did that last Monday at Le Loi Medical Center while wearing gloves.  They didn't ask her to remove them.

Ciambella wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

You don't wear gloves when you go into a healthcare testing facility or any Hospital. Have you ever tried washing gloves with alcohol sanitizer? It doesn't work. So you go prepared with your own sanitizer. Because they certainly won't simply accept the fact that you are wearing gloves so you are safe.
There is no scientific justification that a second mask over a first mask is any more effective, unless the first mask is simply one layer of cloth. Most masks are now three layers of cloth and that's what you want, one of them.

I suggested double masking because that's what health care workers in AZ are doing.  My cousin is one of the nurses wearing two masks and a shield.  Their photos are on FB.  The masks are those disposable blue colour that everyone in VN is wearing.  In fact, they were sent from VN as gifts to the hospital, together with face shields.

The woman who's working for the new restaurant in VT which I've been helping to open had to go for medical exam as a requirement for her job.  She did that last Monday at Le Loi Medical Center while wearing gloves.  They didn't ask her to remove them.

There are a lot of ignorant and uneducated/uninformed people in the world.

This virus crisis is making them more prominent

I think gloves can be useful but only if you are willing to change them frequently.  Each time you leave a potentially hazardous location, you need to dump them and put on another pair.  OB is correct to say that washing them off is nearly impossible.

As far as double masking, I have read that the blue pleated surgical type worn beneath a cloth mask like Vietnamese wear while riding motorbikes can be almost the equivalent of the N-95.  A lot of the gain advantage may be that the outer mask pins the mask inside to the cheeks which can be an open spot with only the surgical mask.