Vietnam reports 16th Covid-19 infection case

The Ministry of Health confirmed Thursday that the resident of the province's Son Loi Commune in Binh Xuyen District was the latest infection case in his family. Earlier, the man's two daughters and wife had tested positive for the virus.

His elder daughter, Nguyen Thi Du, 23, was one of eight Vietnamese workers of Japan-based Nihon Plast Company Limited who'd been sent to Wuhan for training last November. After their return to Vietnam on January 17, six have so far tested positive for the virus and two others are awaiting results.

The man’s 49-year-old mother and 16-year-old younger daughter are being treated at a local health center. After his wife and two daughters tested positive for the virus, the provincial center for disease control had quarantined the man, who’d been asymptomatic until two days ago, when he felt tired. His health is stable, doctors say.

Du also spread the virus to a neighbor and a cousin, who later spread it to her three-month-old grandchild.

Eleven of the 16 infections of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) confirmed so far have been in Vinh Phuc. Of the remaining five, three were found in Ho Chi Minh City, one in Khanh Hoa and another in Thanh Hoa.

Starting Thursday, Vinh Phuc Province has locked down Son Loi Commune, where eight people have contracted the new coronavirus.

In total, the northern province very close to the capital city has quarantined 373 people, of whom 104 have so far tested negative for the virus and the other 258 are being monitored at medical centers after they were found to have come into contact with patients.

Provincial authorities have established a field hospital with 300 beds at the College of Culture and Arts in Vinh Yen Town and a 200-bed facility at a military school in the same town.

Vietnam declared the nCoV outbreak an epidemic on February 1.

As of Thursday the global death toll had climbed to 1,369 and confirmed infections topped 60,000. Nearly 6,000 patients have recovered.