Health ministry says Covid patients still cannot leave homes

In a new guideline to manage Covid-19 at home issued the same day, the Ministry of Health said Covid-19 cases should try not to leave quarantine and go outside, but if they have to, masks and social distancing are required to prevent infection.

Many understood the guidance meant Covid-19 patients could leave their homes when necessary.

However, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son on Monday night said Covid-19 cases are only allowed to leave the rooms where they’re quarantined at. There has been no guideline on allowing Covid-19 cases to leave their houses and go outside yet, he added.

While current policies dictate that Covid-19 cases are not allowed to leave their homes, several local authorities in wards and communes have requested patients to go out and travel to a medical station to confirm their Covid-19 status. There are also families whose members are all infected, forcing someone to go out and purchase food and medicine anyway.

In January, the health ministry said Covid-19 cases treated at home may leave quarantine after seven days spent inside, plus a negative coronavirus test. If test results remain to be positive, an additional 10 days in quarantine would be added for those who have been fully vaccinated, and 14 days for those who have not.