Sixteen of the new patients, numbered 653 to 668, are Da Nang residents between 8 to 93 years of age.

Eight were diagnosed with Covid-19 when staying in quarantine in Da Nang after having contact with infected people. Five are family members who had taken care of patients at the Da Nang Hospital, one a patient at the Da Nang hospital, another a medical worker at the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children and yet another a guard at the Da Nang Central Bus Station in Lien Chieu District who had a health check at the Family Hospital in Hai Chau District.

"Patient 669," a 50-year-old man, lives in Quang Vinh Ward of Bien Hoa Town in the southern province of Dong Nai. He is a doctor at the Dong Nai General Hospital who, while visiting a family member at the Da Nang Hospital recently, came into contact with a person who was later diagnosed with Covid-19

"Patient 670," also 50, was among 219 Vietnamese workers brought home on a repatriation flight from Equatorial Guinea on July 29. All passengers on this flight were quarantined on arrival in Hanoi. 20 other passengers had been confirmed infected earlier.

Vietnam has recorded a total of 670 Covid-19 cases, 284 of them active. Of the 378 recoveries to date, four were confirmed Covid-19 free Tuesday afternoon.

Since last Friday, eight Covid-19 patients have died, including two Tuesday morning, after contracting the novel coronavirus at hospitals in Da Nang. They were all over 50 and had been suffering from other serious chronic ailments for years.

In the past 10 days since the novel coronavirus community transmissions resurfaced in Vietnam, Da Nang alone has recorded 158 cases, its neighbor Quang Nam Province 44, HCMC eight, Dak Lak and Quang Ngai three each, Hanoi and Dong Nai two each, and Thai Binh and Ha Nam one each.

Globally, more than 698,200 Covid-19 deaths have been reported.