"Patients 673-678" are people aged 10-41 who recently returned from a trip they made together to Da Nang, currently the Covid-19 epicenter in Vietnam.

Two of them are from the northern province of Bac Giang and four from Lang Son, also in the north. All six are being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

"Patient 679" is a 44-year old male returning from Russia who was quarantined upon arrival in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on July 11. The flight that carried him has so far recorded 17 positive cases. He is being treated at the Ba Ria Hospital.

"Patients 680-713", aged 1 to 75, are all in Da Nang. All but one of them are linked to hospitals in the city, and one of them lives in Lien Chieu District.

This brings the total number of new cases confirmed Wednesday to 43, with two cases reported in the morning in Quang Nam Province, which borders Da Nang.

The number of cases in Da Nang is now at 192. In the last 11 days, Quang Nam Province has recorded 46 cases; Ho Chi Minh City, eight; Lang Son, four; the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak and the central province of Quang Ngai, three each; Hanoi, Bac Giang and the southern province of Dong Nai, two each; and the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Ha Nam, one each.

Vietnam has recorded a total of 713 Covid-19 cases, 332 of them active. Eight patients have died and 11 are in critical condition with a very high risk of death, doctors say.

Over 120,000 people are in isolation - 20,000 at quarantine facilities, 1,500 in hospitals and the rest in their homes.

More than 704,000 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded worldwide.