Woman illegally entering Vietnam tests positive for novel coronavirus

The 32-year-old woman is being treated at the Sa Dec General Hospital in the Mekong Delta province and is in stable condition.

At least six of her family members have been in close contact with her, and they are quarantined in Hong Ngu District and had samples taken for tests, province vice chairman Doan Tan Buu said.

Authorities are racing to contact trace people who had come into contact with the woman's family members and disinfect places she had visited.

She was part of a group of six Vietnamese who illegally entered the country through An Giang Province on December 24 before traveling to other localities.

One of the six has tested positive in HCMC and a second in Vinh Long Province in the Mekong Delta.

They had traveled from Myanmar to Thailand by truck on December 15 and stayed there until December 22 before leaving for Cambodia on December 23.

On December 24 they crossed into Vietnam by boat across the Binh Di River and were picked up in a car.

The car driver who drove the group into Vietnam is being quarantined at a medical center in Soc Trang Province after authorities found him on Monday. He tested negative for novel coronavirus and the car he used has been disinfected.

At an online conference with city and provincial leaders on Monday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged people across the country to report anyone illegally crossing the border into Vietnam, and be vigilant since such people are a major source of infection.

The country’s Covid-19 tally stands at 1,451, with 35 deaths.

No local transmission has occurred for more than a month, but health authorities are apprehensive that the recent illegal entrants could spark a new wave of community transmission.