The Ministry of Health announced on January 6 that a Vietnamese citizen returning from France has been diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

The female patient, 26, lives in Vinh city of Nghe An province, central Vietnam.

The woman was  quarantined as soon as she landed at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport on December 16, 2020 on board flight VN5010.

In her third COVID-19 test on January 5, she was confirmed to get infected with the coronavirus.  

The patient was immediately transferred to the General Hospital of Binh Duong province, southern Vietnam, for medical observation and treatment.

Authorities have so far detected 9 coronavirus infections on the same flight and all the patients are being quarantined in Binh Duong.

The new infection raised the country’s cumulative number of COVID-19 patients to 1,505, including 812 imported cases.

Also on January 6, 14 COVID-19 patients were permitted to leave health facilities after making a full recovery from the disease.

To date Vietnam has cured 1,353 out of 1,505 COVID-19 patients.