The Ministry of Health announced on March 25 that it has detected a total of seven flights which recently landed in Vietnam with passengers who had contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) onboard.

Flight JL751 by Japan Airlines which departed from Tokyo and landed in Hanoi on March 20 is the most recent flight to have carried passengers who had been infected by the COVID-19.

This follows flights EK392 by Emirates Airlines from Dubai to Ho Chi Minh City, and an All Nippon Airways flight from Japan to Ho Chi Minh City, landing in the nation on March 19.

In addition, flight BI381 by Royal Brunei Airlines from Brunei to Ho Chi Minh City on March 17 was listed as having positive COVID-19 cases onboard. Moreover, three flights touching down in the country on March 15 also brought in passengers who had been infected, including Emirates Airlines flight EK364 from Dubai to Ho Chi Minh City, Aeroflot flight SU290 from Moscow to Hanoi, and Thai Airways flight TG560 from Bangkok to Hanoi.

The Ministry of Health has called on all passengers who were on board any of these flights to immediately contact the City Disease Control Centre and await further instructions.

Furthermore, it is the responsibility of travel agencies to notify any passengers who had purchased air tickets on any of the aforementioned flights.

At present, the Ministry of Health is urgently trying to track down all passengers who had been on any of the flights which brought cases of the COVID-19 into the country.

Currently, the number of positive COVID-19 cases nationwide stands at 134, with 17 of them already being discharged from hospital after making a full recovery.