Novel coronavirus cases in Vietnam climb to 237

Two of them visited the Buddha Bar & Grill in HCMC. The bar is the country’s second largest hotspot, with the latest addition bringing the number of related patients to 18.

One was in quarantine after flying in from France, and the fourth is a Swedish man who traveled to several places in Vietnam.

"Patient 234" is a 69-year-old Vietnamese woman from Buon Don District in the Central Highlands Dak Lak Province who flew from Paris to HCMC on March 18 by Vietnam Airlines flight VN2016 and sat in seat number 45. She was quarantined in HCMC on arrival, and her first test result was negative.

On March 30 her second test was positive for Covid-19. She is currently being treated at a field hospital in HCMC's Can Gio District.

"Patient 235" is a 25-year-old British man who went to the bar on March 14. He showed no symptoms but was isolated at the quarantine center in District 9, and tested positive.

"Patient 236" is a 26-year-old woman living in Thao Dien Ward in HCMC's District 2 who also went to Buddha Bar on March 14 and was in contact with a person later diagnosed with Covid-19. She has been in isolation at the quarantine zone in District 9 since March 25 and tested positive during her second test on April 1.

"Patient 237" is a 64-year-old Swedish man with blood cancer who has been in Vietnam since last December. He visited northern Ninh Binh Province on March 17 and HCMC from March 21-23, and returned to Hanoi on March 22.

On March 31 he had a nose bleed and a family member took him to hospital for a checkup. His sample was taken on April 1 and it tested positive for nCoV. He is currently being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi's Dong Anh District.

More than 152 Covid-19 patients are currently being treated at 21 medical centers around the country. Another 85 who contracted the disease recovered and were discharged.

The pandemic has claimed more than 53,000 lives in 204 countries and territories.