Hanoi confirms new Covid-19 infection linked to major hospital

The latest case raises the nation’s tally to 266 and the number of active cases to 97.

"Patient 266," 36, resides in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin District. Between March 8 and 10, she had visited her mother at the functional rehabilitation department of Bach Mai Hospital. She had an itchy throat on March 12 and isolated herself at home since March 30, two days after Bach Mai was put under lockdown for being linked to a series of infections.

On April 12, her samples were taken following a mass testing campaign for all people who’d visited the hospital, which has been the nation’s biggest Covid-19 hotspot with at least 46 related cases, including this latest patient.

After her samples were confirmed Covid-19 positive two days later, she was moved for treatment to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the capital city's Dong Anh District.

The Bach Mai Hospital was locked down March 28 after at least eight Covid-19 cases were linked to it. The lockdown was lifted after 14 days in the early hours of last Sunday after thousands of people related to the hospital were put under special medical monitoring.

Of the total 266 confirmed Covid-19 patients in Vietnam, 169 have been discharged from hospitals, including 23 released Tuesday.

The 97 active cases are being treated at 14 hospitals, all in stable conditions. 13 of them have tested negative once and eight twice.

As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 69,000 people who entered Vietnam from infected areas or who had close contact with patients have been quarantined.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed more than 120,500 lives as it hit 210 countries and territories.