The five foreigners are experts who came to work in Vietnam.
Four Russian men aged 25-62 landed last Sunday at HCMC's Tan Son Nhat Airport on IrAero flight IAE4405 and were quarantined in neighboring Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
After they were confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus Tuesday, patients 1217-1220 are undergoing treatment at the Ba Ria Hospital.
"Patient 1221," a 45-year-old German man, also arrived Sunday at the Tan Son Nhat Airport on Singapore Airlines flight SQ178. He was confirmed positive for the virus on Monday and is being treated at the Ninh Thuan General Hospital in central Vietnam.
Patients 1222-1224 are three Vietnamese men aged 51, 59 and 40 who landed October 31 at the Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh Province on Vietnam Airlines flight VN5062 from Russia. After their second test results returned positive Tuesday, they are being treated at the Hoa Binh General Hospital in the eponymous northern province. Nineteen others on the same flight have already tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
"Patient 1225," a 28-year-old man, landed last Saturday at the Da Nang International Airport on Vietnam Airlines flight VN311 from Japan. He was confirmed positive the next day and is being treated at the Da Nang Hospital for Lung Diseases.
"Patient 1226," 61, flew back to Vietnam from the U.S. on Vietnam Airlines flight VN311 that landed in HCMC last Saturday. He is undergoing treatment at the Quang Nam Regional General Hospital, not far from Da Nang, after testing Covid-19 positive on Monday.
The 10 new cases raised Vietnam's Covid-19 tally to 1,226 with 1,087 recoveries and 35 deaths. Three patients who died after being declared free of the virus are not included in the list of recoveries or deaths.
The nation has gone more than two months without recording any community transmission of the virus. All the cases recorded during this period were imported and the patients quarantined on arrival.