Vietnam's Covid-19 tally up by four to 222

"Patient 219" is a 59-year-old woman from Hung Yen Province in northern Vietnam. She took care of a patient at the department of neurology at Bach Mai, staying in the same room with "Patient 133" on March 16. "Patient 133," a 66-year-old woman from the northern province of Lai Chau, was confirmed positive on March 24 after getting a heart ailment treated at the Bach Mai Hospital for three weeks.

On March 25, on learning about the Lai Chau case, "Patient 219" immediately visited the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District for checking. Her samples showed she had contracted the virus and she was admitted for treatment at the hospital.

This latest case raises the number of infections associated with the Bach Mai Hospital, now the nation’s largest infection hotspot, to at least 40; 26 of them are employees of Truong Sinh Company, a food and logistic services provider to Bach Mai.

The remaining three cases recorded Thursday morning are Vietnamese returning from abroad who had been quarantined upon arrival.

"Patient 220" is a 20-year-old man who returned from France on March 17. He was sent to a quarantine camp in Hanoi’s Thach That District and developed Covid-19 symptoms of fever and cough on March 22.

"Patient 221" is 24, a student in Canada. She returned to Vietnam March 24 on a flight transiting in Taipei, and was quarantined at an army facility in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. Her test results were confirmed positive on March 30.

"Patient 222" is a 28-year-old woman in Hanoi's Phuc Loi Commune, Long Bien District. She lives and works and the U.S. She flew home on March 20 and tested positive on March 30.

Of the 222 Covid-19 cases confirmed in Vietnam until now, 64 have been discharged from hospital.

Vietnam declared Covid-19 a national epidemic Wednesday afternoon with infections recorded in 25 out of 63 cities and provinces.

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far spread to 203 countries and territories, claiming over 47,000 lives.