Deceased Japanese tests positive for coronavirus in Hanoi

Authorities have put 139 hotel employees and guests under quarantine after finding out the deceased man had tested positive for the virus.

The man, born in 1967 and entering Vietnam on Jan. 17, stayed on the ninth floor of the serviced apartment building and died at around 7 p.m. on Saturday.

He had previously undergone centralized quarantine in Ward 2, Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh District.

During the quarantine, he tested negative for the virus twice, on Jan. 17 and 31. He later took a flight to Hanoi and underwent self-quarantine at Somerset West Point since 2 p.m., Feb. 1.

Twelve other guests had also stayed on the ninth floor of the building.

The cause of his death has yet to be confirmed.

An expert from Hanoi's National Institute Of Hygiene and Epidemiology arrives in Hai Duong Province to test workers at a factory where many Covid-19 cases have been reported, January 28, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/The Quynh.

Tay Ho District's medical authority has been investigating his travel history. Areas in and around the hotel were disinfected.

The swab sample of the man, which was sent to Hanoi's Center for Disease Control, showed he contracted the coronavirus.

The Japanese Embassy in Vietnam has transferred the man's body to the funeral home of the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital.

As of Sunday afternoon, Vietnam has recorded 2,228 Covid-19 cases with 35 deaths.

Hanoi’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) is looking for those who had come into contact with the Japanese man, or visited places he had been to at the same time:

-IBIS Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, the night of January 31.

-Flight VN254 from HCMC to Hanoi, from 11 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. on February 1.

-Somerset West Point serviced apartments, No. 2 Tay Ho Street, Quang An Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, February 1 to 13.

-Red Sun River Building (P903 and Tokyo Red Grill Restaurant on the second floor), No. 23 Phan Chu Trinh Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, 12-1 p.m. on February 2.

-Hachi Ju Hachi Restaurant, No. 168 Xuan Dieu Street, Quang An Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, 6-8 p.m. on February 3.

-Raffles Medical Clinic, No. 51 Xuan Dieu Street, Quang An Ward, Tay Ho District, in the mornings of February 4 and 8.

-Torikichi Restaurant, No. 75 Kim Ma Thuong Street, Linh Lang Ward, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, 7-9 p.m. on February 5.

People who visited these places in the aforementioned time are advised to contact local health authority, or call 0969082115; 0949396115.