Hanoi confirms 1st coronavirus case, 17th in Vietnam

Hanoi has just announced the first case infected with the new coronavirus, being the 17th infection in Vietnam, local media reported.

The news was released at a meeting on Friday evening chaired by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue.

Hanoi blocks streets leading to the patient's house. Photo: Zing

The patient, who is also the 17th case in Vietnam, is a hotel manager named N.H.N, 26, returning to the country on March 2.

Before returning to Vietnam, she flew from Italy to France to visit his older sister who is now already infected with Covid-19.

Upon arrival in Hanoi on March 2, she went straight home without declaring her travel history and went to a nearby hospital named Hong Ngoc for medical checkup on March 5 only after having cough and developing fever.

Hanoi has made a list of people who made close contact with her and immediately quarantined those of close contacts while others are put at home under supervision.

Since Friday evening, the city’s rapid response teams have blocked the streets leading to her house that is located at No.125 Truc Bach street and disinfected a number of areas, including the hospital she went to.

Hanoi’s authorities are tracking down the patient’s travel history to identify people who made contact with her, including Vietnam Airlines VN0054 flight with 197 crew members and passengers onboard.

The Ministry of Health will soon make public the list of people who flew on flight VN0054 and made close contact with the patient to prevent more infections.

Prior to the latest case, 22 consecutive days passed by without Vietnam reporting new infected cases. Before that, all 16 infected cases had recovered and been discharged from hospital.

As of 6p.m of March 6, up to 23,228 people underwent isolation at concentrated facilities or at their home, up nearly 9,000 from March 5. In addition, 101 nCoV suspects are being quarantined at hospitals.

To curb the spread of the deadly virus, all passengers, both Vietnamese and foreigners, arriving in Vietnam are required to fill out health declaration forms from 6a.m of March 7.

Passengers who have stayed or transited through epidemic-hit regions have to be in mandatory quarantine in 14 days. To date, China, South Korea, Iran and Italy are considered epidemic-hit nations.