A 27-year-old man who has been quarantined upon returning to Vietnam from Daegu since Wednesday has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Health Ministry confirmed Saturday.
The man hails from the northern province of Ninh Binh, around 60 kilometers south of Hanoi. On February 17, he flew to Gimhae International Airport in Busan and traveled to Daegu, South Koreas Covid-19 epicenter. Accompanying him was his 24-year-old sister.
According to VNExpress, the duo and their two Vietnamese friends went to a supermarket in Daegu two times on February 18-19. Their friends returned to Vietnam on February 26 and were quarantined at Son Tay Military School in Hanoi.
The latest patient landed at Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh on March 4 on a flight from Busan. Currently, all flights from South Korea have been diverted away from Hanoi, Saigon and Da Nang airports.
After entering Vietnam, he was quarratined and had his blood samples tested. The results showed him positive for Covid-19.
South Korea has so far reported over 7,000 Covid-19 infections, second only to mainland China, where the disease was first detected last December.
Vietnam confirmed its 17th infection case on Friday, after spending 22 straight days without any new infection. The patient was a 26-year old woman in Hanoi returning from Europe. She has been quarantined and is undergoing treatment at Campus No.2 of the Hanoi Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
A section of Truc Bach street in Hanoi, where the patient lives is sterilized on Saturday morning @ Vietnam News
All 16 persons confirmed with Covid-19 infections in Vietnam earlier have been discharged from the hospital.
The Covid-19 epidemic has spread to 100 countries and territories around the world with global death toll climbing to 3,500.
Starting Saturday, everyone coming to Vietnam have to fill health declarations.
The arrivals can choose to file the declaration in paper or electronic form, via the Preventive Health Department website suckhoetoandan.vn/khaiyte. The declaration form is available in English, Chinese, South Korean, Italian and Cambodian, local media reports.
The Ministry of Health also requires those with symptoms like cough, fever, shortness of breath, and fatigue to be examined and quarantined.
Vietnam already required those arriving from mainland China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy, the worst-hit countries, to be quarantined for at least 14 days.