The new patients reside in Quang Nam Province that borders Da Nang, both having had contact with previous infected cases.

"Patient 671," 33, has received treatment at the Neurosurgery Department of Da Nang Hospital while "Patient 672," 37, took care of a family member at the hospital.

Quang Nam has reported 46 cases in the past 11 days since the Covid-19 community transmission reemerged in Vietnam, all linked to hospitals in Da Nang.

The epicenter Da Nang has recorded 158 cases. The locally transmitted cases have also spread to Hanoi, HCMC and five other provinces of Dak Lak, Quang Ngai, Dong Nai, Thai Binh and Ha Nam.

Since last Friday, eight Covid-19 patients have died, including two on Tuesday, after contracting the new coronavirus at hospitals in Da Nang. They are aged between 53 and 86, and have suffered from chronic diseases for years.

With the latest update on Wednesday morning, Vietnam has recorded 672 Covid-19 cases , including 286 active patients after 378 have recovered.

Of the Covid-19 patients still in hospitals, 11 are in critical conditions with very high risk of death.

Seven of them are being put on ventilators and treated in the intensive care unit while four must rely on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), which pumps blood out of the body and to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back.

More than 704,000 have died of Covid-19 worldwide.