Five Vietnamese returning from Poland, and Germany and one Japanese man entering Vietnam from his nation became the latest new COVID cases in the country, taking the national count to 1,420, the Ministry of Health said on December 22.

The new cases were placed into isolation upon their entry, posing no risk of spreading the virus to the community. They are now in the quarantine process to undergo COVID-19 treatment at local hospitals.

On the same day, a total of 12 coronavirus patients were declared free from the novel coronavirus, raising the number of recoveries to 1,281.  

With the new infections, the country’s COVID-19 cases total 1,420, including 693 locally transmitted cases, and 727 imported cases, while the number of fatalities remain unchanged at 35.

Among the active cases under treatment, 20 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 at least one or several times.

As many as 16,360 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients  returned home from pandemic-hit regions are currently quarantined across the country, with 187 at hospitals, and the remainder at concentrated quarantine facilities or at their places of residence.