The man tested positive for the virus. As more people are being tested or being put under quarantine, the figure will likely go up in the next few days.
Earlier, a man returning from the Republic of Korea (RoK) was confirmed to be the eighteenth person in Vietnam infected with Covid-19, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.
After the confirmation of the 17th case was released, the steering board for Covid-19 prevention in the Northern Province of Quang Ninh convened an urgent meeting on tracking people who were on the same plane with the patient 17.
Flight VN0054, which departed from London on March 1 and landed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 4:30 am on March 2, carried N.H.N., a 26-year-old woman who has now tested positive for COVID-19.
Initially, 52 people including 46 foreigners, four Vietnamese and two Vietnamese-British passengers on the flight VN0054 linked to the 17th Covid-19 patient. They landed on Ha Long Town of Quang Ninh Province; however, 39 foreigners left Ha Long Town before March 7.
Director of the Department of Health in the Central Province of Quang Nam Nguyen Van Hai yesterday said that the health authority has tracked and isolated 40 passengers relating to the 17th Covid-19 patient.
Worse, some passengers on flight VN0054 boarded a connecting flight, VN233, to Ho Chi Minh City on the same day. The flight landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in the southern metropolis.
Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center of Disease Control Nguyen Tri Dung yesterday said 16 passengers on the same flights VN0054 and VN233 with the 17th Covid-19 patient were placed under quarantine.
The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (CDC) has been releasing announcement in both English and Vietnam to look for more passengers on two Vietnam Airline flights linked to the country’s 17th confirmed case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection.
Passengers on the two flights should call 0869.577.133 for further medical assistance.
