The suspect cases were among 185 Vietnamese citizens that Military Division 390 had received for concentrated quarantine and medical observation. The citizens were left stranded in Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal due to the COVID-19 epidemic and were recently repatriated safely to Vietnam.

Luong Ngoc Truong, director of the Centre for Diseases Control of Thanh Hoa province, said the centre had sent the 14 suspect samples to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation, and it is awaiting the results.

The 14 suspect cases had also been transferred to Hanoi-based Hospital of Tropical Diseases for medical surveillance and treatment.

Fifty people who had close contact with the suspect cases in the concentrated quarantine centre were tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and their sample were also sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation.

Vietnam has gone through 81 days in a row without new locally transmitted infections. Newly-detected cases all came from epidemic hit countries and they were placed in quarantine as soon as their approval.

Experts warned about the possible recurrence of the virus in Vietnam as thousands of Vietnamese citizens are returning home from abroad. VOV

Latest Coronavirus News in Vietnam & Southeast Asia July 6

Vietnam safe from COVID-19 over 81 straight days