The new patient is a UK citizen who boarded flight VN0054 from London to Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport on March 2. After entering Vietnam, the 66-year-old female patient travelled to Hue city in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

She is now in stable heath condition, showing no symptoms of fever, cough and breathing difficulties.

Of the 30 COVID-19 infection cases in Vietnam, 16 had been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals.

Earlier, eight new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Vietnam.

The new cases comprise four in the northern province of Quang Ninh, two in the northern border province of Lao Cai and two in the central city of Da Nang.

All of them boarded flight VN0054 from London to Noi Bai on March 2 – the same flight as female patient N.H.N who was confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on March 6.

Vietnam has to date detected 29 COVID-19 infection cases. Of them, 16 patients had been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals, while 13 are being put in quarantine. They are in stable health condition.

Earlier the day, Vietnam reported that a 61-year-old man in Hanoi, who also boarded the flight, was confirmed positive for the virus.

Hanoi ramps up efforts to contain COVID-19 spread

Hanoi is promoting epidemiological investigation to identify the persons having contact with its first COVID-19 case, confirmed on March 6, and localising areas with infected patients.

The city reported the first infected patient on late March 6 and this is also the 17th case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in Vietnam. The 26-year-old woman had visited her sister in the UK, then travelled to Italy and France, and returned to Hanoi on March 1 on flight VN0054.

Three others in Hanoi having contact with her were tested positive for COVID-19 on March 7 and 8, raising the number of cases in Vietnam to 21.

The 18th patient is a 27-year-old man in Ninh Binh province returning from the disease-hit Republic of Korea.

At a meeting of Hanoi’s steering board for COVID-19 prevention and control on March 8, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy predicted more positive cases who had direct contact with the 17th patient.

He said the most important now is to conduct epidemiological investigation to identify those having direct and indirect contact with the first patient in the city, stressing that this is the decisive factor in containing the spread.

Quy noted over the last 40 hours, the steering board has worked around the clock to deal with new developments of the outbreak in a timely manner. All relevant information has also been publicised.

All areas that have COVID-19 cases need to be disinfected, the official said, asking the departments of health and finance to prepare infrastructure at a higher level so as to make timely response when necessary.

At the session, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said the city has clarified the sources of infection of the confirmed cases, as well as persons having close contact with them. Quarantine has been carried out as soon as they were identified, and all have been put in quarantine.

Health of the four patients is improving, and none of them are in critical condition, he added.

Chung said to actively prevent coronavirus infection, authorities will publicise all the places the patients have lived and gone to so that people can avoid those areas. The city even considers a suspect case resifinh on Lang street in Dong Da district as a new patient so as to quarantine people having contact with this person and disinfect this area.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered ministers, heads of ministerial-level and Government agencies, along with leaders of provinces and centrally-run cities to review all plans on foreign trips and consider suspending those visits to focus on the fight against COVID-19.

WHO chief lauds Vietnam’s efforts against COVID-19

Assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu (C) at a meeting with WHO Director-Geenral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva on March 6

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has praised Vietnam’s early, effective measures against COVID-19, especially political commitments of senior leaders and the resolve of agencies and localities in the disease combat.

He made the praise at a meeting with Assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu in Geneva on March 6, where the WHO chief appreciated Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship as well as the fruitful coordination between ASEAN member countries in the fight against the epidemic.

Ghebreyesus said he had recommended the African Union to learn from the ASEAN’s coordination model in disease control.

WHO stands ready to further cooperate and share relevant information, assessments and research outcomes with countries, he pledged.

For his part, Hieu thanked the organisation for its close cooperation and support for Vietnam’s health sector, especially in public health care, disease prevention and the improvement of the capacity of health workers at different levels.

He informed the WHO Director General about Vietnam’s comprehensive countermeasures and ASEAN cooperation in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

Hieu was in Geneva from March 4-6 to attend sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament.

Vietnam informs movement history in Europe of COVID-19 patient

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Embassies of France, Italy and the UK in Hanoi and asked the Vietnamese Embassies in Paris, Rome and London to share with relevant agencies of the host countries about movement history and temporary residence address in the UK of a Vietnamese woman who was tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 after travelling to several European nations.

Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang revealed this information on March 7, adding that the ministry also informed the nations which had citizens on the same flight with the confirmed patient so that they could deploy proper measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the community.

“Vietnam will continue and regularly share information and coordinate with other countries and international organizations and relevant partners in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2,” she added.

The 26-year-old patient earlier visited her sister in the UK, then travelled to Milan (Italy) and Paris (France) and returned to Hanoi on March 1 on flight VN0054 of Vietnam Airlines.

After coming back to Vietnam, she showed symptoms of fever, cough and tiredness. The patient then came to Hong Ngoc hospital in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh district for medical check-up and was diagnosed to suffer pneumonia.

As she had gone through COVID-19-hit countries, the patient was brought to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for treatment and supervision. Her sample then was tested positive for the virus.

Vietnam has to date confirmed 20 COVID-19 infection cases. Of them, 16 patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals. VNA