He has tested negative three times this week and "is now completely healthy," the Ministry of Health said Thursday night.

Of 69 patients being treated in the country, he was the first to recover.

He was admitted to the Ninh Binh General Hospital after becoming the 18th Covid-19 patient in Vietnam on March 7.

He thanked the medical staff upon being discharged. "I feel lucky to have received your diligent care," he said.

Pham Van Hiep, director of the hospital, said the patient did not have a fever or cough for several days before the discharge.

He could not hide his joy: "The treatment during the 12 days since the patient was admitted to hospital involved the effort and hard work of all doctors and nurses here."

The man hails from the northern province of Thai Binh, around 100 kilometers from Hanoi.

On February 17 he had flown to Busan and then to Daegu, South Korea's Covid-19 epicenter, along with his 24-year-old sister.

After entering Vietnam on March 4 he was quarantined at a centralized facility and tested positive.

He will now be quarantined at home for two weeks under the supervision of local medical officials.

Vietnam had gone 22 days without a new case of coronavirus infection, which causes Covid-19, until March 6.

It recorded nine new infections on Thursday, all of them returnees from abroad.

Covid-19 has spread to 179 countries and territories and claimed over 10,000 lives.

On Friday Italy made global headlines after its death toll surpassed China’s and rose to 3,405.