Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh asked localities to report the number of Chinese workers not having returned to Vietnam yet after their Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday spent in pneumonia-hit areas.

"Companies are requested to temporarily stop welcoming Chinese workers returning to Vietnam until the coronavirus situation is under control," said the minister.

Meanwhile, companies need to appoint replacements and adapt business plans to ensure production and business activities commence undisturbed during the outbreak.

Many companies are awaiting the return of Chinese workers following the Chinese government’s ban on exiting the country. Those who have returned via land or sea would be quarantined for 14 days for monitoring.

Vietnam confirmed Monday that a 29-year-old worker returning from Wuhan is the nation's eighth patient infected with the new pneumonia causing coronavirus.

Local government declared the novel coronavirus an epidemic Saturday. The death toll has reached 361 people in China and one in the Philippines. Over 17,000 have been infected.