Fencer tests positive for coronavirus after returning from abroad

By Hoang Nguyen May 17, 2021 | 07:24 pm PT

A Vietnamese fencing athlete (R) competes at the Olympic 2016. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Nhon.

A fencer who recently visited Uzbekistan for an Olympic qualifying event has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The Vietnam national fencing team with nine members, including three experts and six athletes, went to Uzbekistan from April 21 to May 7 for the Olympic qualifiers, Thanh Nien newspaper cited a Vietnam Fencing Federation official as saying on Monday.

"In Uzbekistan, the team was in healthy condition, and before returning to Vietnam they again tested negative," the source said.

When the team returned to Vietnam on May 7, they were quarantined and tested one more time. All others except the one fencer tested negative. He is being quarantined at the Cu Chi Field Hospital in HCMC.

Before leaving for Uzbekistan, the team was prioritized for Covid vaccination at the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi, but the infected fencer and an official could not make it to Hanoi in time for the shot.

The team failed to secure a spot in the Olympics to be held in Tokyo this summer.

On May 26 the national football team will go to UAE for the World Cup Asian qualifiers, and all players and officials were vaccinated in April.