This marks day 22 that Vietnam has gone without community transmission of the disease.

Vietnam’s Covid-19 count went up to 288 Thursday evening after 17 Vietnamese from the UAE tested positive.

The latest patients are among 297 Vietnamese repatriated from the UAE on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0088 last Sunday. The flight landed at the Can Tho Airport in the Mekong Delta and all passengers were quarantined at a university dorm in nearby Bac Lieu Province.

The new patients are being treated at the Bac Lieu General Hospital, raising Vietnam's active cases to 55, 14 of whom have tested negative once and seven twice.

Officials have said that although the condition inside Vietnam is stable, authorities need to tighten control on all arrivals from abroad.

In April and early May, Vietnam has repatriated 1,700 citizens from Canada, Japan, France, Thailand and the UAE. Another 300 Vietnamese are expected to return from Canada, Malaysia and the U.S. by Monday.

Vietnam has more than 16,500 people in quarantine, those that have returned from abroad and those who have come in contact with the returnees. Of these, 162 are quarantined at hospitals, 6,600 are staying at centralized camps and the rest at home or other accommodation facilities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected 212 countries and territories, and its reported death toll has risen above 270,300.