Two more illegal entrants contract Covid-19, Vietnam confirms

Patients 1452 and 1453 are part of a group of six who had traveled from Myanmar to Thailand on Dec. 15 and to Cambodia on Dec. 23.

On Dec. 24, they got into Vietnam by boat across the Binh Di River that runs between Cambodia and Vietnam, and were picked up by a car.

After entering Vietnam, a 31-year-old woman, "patient 1452," went to the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap while the 23-year-old man, "patient 1453" went to Ho Chi Minh City's District 9 to work at a mechanical factory in Long Binh Ward.

Of the other four, one 32-year-old man returned to his home in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long and the rest traveled to HCMC.

The Vinh Long man was confirmed as "patient 1440" last Saturday after his family turned him in for quarantining, which is mandated under a protocol that applies to everyone arriving in Vietnam from abroad.

From the case of "patient 1440," health authorities tracked down all who’d come into close contact with him and found the other five illegal entrants. A 23-year-old man in HCMC's District 5 was confirmed as "patient 1451" on Monday.

With the two latest cases, four people in this group have been diagnosed with Covid-19. The other two have been quarantined and have so far tested negative. The driver who picked them up at the border has also tested negative.

Also Tuesday evening, the health ministry confirmed another Covid-19 case, an eight-year-old girl landing December 27 at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat Airport from the U.S.

Vietnam’s current Covid-19 tally stands at 1,454 with 1,319 recoveries and 35 deaths.

It has gone 27 days without community transmissions. Authorities have taken drastic measures to trace all those who’ve come into close contact with the illegal entrants who’ve made up the latest Covid-19 cases.