Flight attendants among four new Covid-19 patients

The other two patients were passengers on board a repatriation flight from the U.S.

The latest additions have taken the number of active infections in Vietnam to 61.

"Patient 321," 44, and "Patient 322," 39, are residents of Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City. They worked on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0062 from Russia that landed May 13 at the Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province. After completing their medical clearance and migration procedures, the entire cabin crew flew to Hanoi. At 10 a.m. the same day, the crew departed on flight VN7485 with no passengers from Hanoi to HCMC.

They were isolated at Vietnam Airlines premises on Hong Ha Street in Tan Binh District after landing. The two attendants shared a room. The following day, both were tested for the first time and the results came out negative. Two days later, "Patient 321" had a fever of 38.2 degrees Celsius. On May 17, the results of his second test came out positive.

After "Patient 321" had a fever, "Patient 322" was isolated in another room. His samples tested positive a day later.

The two are currently being treated at the Cu Chi field hospital in HCMC.

"Patient 323" is a 19-year-old woman and "Patient 324" a 18-year-old man. Both are residents of HCMC’s Tan Binh District and students in the U.S. who returned to Vietnam on flight VN001 that landed May 16 at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi. The woman occupied seat 41D and the man 27K.

The two were quarantined on arrival at the National Center for Security and Security Education in the Hanoi National University in Thach That District. They tested positive Sunday and are currently under treatment at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the capital city.

Also Monday, three Vietnamese patients were confirmed free of the novel coronavirus in Hanoi.

Vietnam has recorded 324 Covid-19 cases to date, 184 of them imported. Of these 263 have recovered after treatment. No deaths have been recorded so far and no community transmission recorded for over a month.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said late last week that the country will focus on preventing transmission sources from abroad. It will continue to close its doors to international commercial flights and foreign tourists, he said.

Tran Dac Phu, a senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, said Sunday that Vietnam has done well in detecting and curbing Covid-19 infections.

The pandemic has affected 213 countries and territories, with reported deaths are close to 315,000.