Vietnam confirms first domestic Covid-19 case after three months

"Patient 1347", a 32-year-old Vietnamese resident of District 6, HCMC, is an English teacher by trade. He contracted the virus from his friend, a flight attendant confirmed Saturday as "patient 1342."

The flight attendant had returned to Vietnam on November 14 and was quarantined for four days at a facility managed by Vietnam Airlines in HCMC. After two tests showed he was negative for the coronavirus, he was asked to remain quarantined at his home in Bach Dang Street, Ward 2, Tan Binh District. He came into contact with his mother and two friends, including the English teacher who came to stay with him.

From November 18-25, "patient 1347" taught at the KEY English language center in Nguyen Ba Tuyen Street, Ward 12, Tan Binh District and other campuses in District 10. He also went to coffee shops and a karaoke parlor. The names of those facilities have not been released.

HCMC Center for Disease Control said the new patient has had close contact with 192 people before being detected. Health officials have been collecting samples from these people for Covid-19 tests.

The new case has ended HCMC's 120-day streak without a community transmission of the virus. The previous case in the city was recorded on August 2 as "patient 589."

Also Monday, three Vietnamese citizens returning from the U.S. and Japan were confirmed the country's latest imported Covid-19 cases.

"Patient 1344" is a 21-year-old resident of HCMC who landed November 23 at the Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang City on Vietnam Airlines flight VN431 from the U.S., transiting in South Korea.

She developed a cough and sore throat last Sunday and test results showed she was positive for the novel coronavirus. She is being treated at the Da Nang Lung Hospital.

"Patient 1345", 22, is from the northern province of Bac Ninh. She arrived last Friday at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport from Japan on Vietjet Air flight VJ7837 and was quarantined in the central province of Thanh Hoa. After test results showed Monday that she had contracted the virus, she was moved to Hanoi’s National Hospital for Tropical Diseases 2.

"Patient 1346," also being treated at the Hanoi hospital, is a 25-year-old resident of central Ha Tinh Province who landed Saturday at the Noi Bai airport from Japan on Bamboo Airways flight QH4913. Test results showed Sunday that he was positive for the virus.

The domestic transmission and three imported cases have raised Vietnam's active case count to 130.

The latest cases take Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally to 1,347 cases, of these 35 died from the disease. Three who died after they had been confirmed Covid-19 free have not been counted among the recoveries or the deaths.

Over 16,000 people are quarantined nationwide at present.