The first Covid-19 case carrying the highly contagious variant of coronavirus is a 45-year-old Vietnamese woman repatriated from the UK on a flight landing at Can Tho International Airport on December 22.
The flight carrying the woman and 305 passengers from the UK to Vietnam landed on December 22. 147 of them are now in quarantine in the Mekong Delta Province of Tra Vinh while 137 in isolation wards in Vinh Long, 17 in Can Tho City’s isolation wards and 4 in Ho Chi Minh City’s quarantine ward.
Health authorities of above-mentioned localities have carried out testing detecting six of them including patient 1,429 and patient 1,432 in Vinh Long Province, patient 1,434 and patient 1,435 in Tra Vinh Province to contract the díease.
Immediately, the Pasteur Institute in HCMC analyzed the coronavirus genome. Test results have shown that the patient 1,435 was infected with SARS-CoV-2 – variant VOC 202012/01 – newly discovered strain which has been recorded in the UK lately.
The institute also announced that the patient 1,435 is suffering the disease caused by variant D614G which makes the disease spread fast four or five months ago.
According to the Ministry of Health, the woman has a 10-year history of high blood pressure. Prior to her return to Vietnam, her health was reportedly stable.
The woman said her health condition is normal before leaving the UK ; however, after she entered Vietnam and stayed in the quarantine ward, she had sore throat and slight fever. The HCMC-based Pasteur Institute confirmed she is positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Simultaneously, the woman was transferred to the quarantine ward in the Lung and Tuberculosis Hospital in Tra Vinh Province.
The husband of patient 1,435 who is in the UK is also positive for the deadly virus.
