Earlier the same day, the Ministry of Transport sent an urgent notice to the Vietnam Railway Authority, the Vietnam Railways and the Transport Department of the northern border provinces of Lao Cai and Lang Son, on the implementation of measures against the epidemic.

Under the notice, Train MR1/T8702 from Vietnam to China will be halted as from 21:20 on February 5.

The rail services will be resumed after the ministry issues a new notice.

Meanwhile, international cargo trains through railway stations in Lang Son and Lao Cai will maintain their usual operation.

The ministry asked the Vietnam Railway Authority and the Vietnam Railways to take countermeasures while keeping a close watch on the development of the disease.

As of February 4 morning, Vietnam had recorded nine nCoV cases, with the latest patient being a 30-year-old man in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, who returned to Vietnam from China’s Wuhan in January on a Southern China flight, the same flight with four other Vietnamese previously tested positive for the novel virus.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the deadly virus has now spread to 27 countries and territories worldwide, with 19,843 confirmed cases as of 6:00 on February 4./.

Tenth coronavirus case confirmed in Vietnam

One more person has tested positive for coronavirus in Vietnam's Vinh Phuc Province, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to ten, said the Ministry of Health this afternoon.