The country had stayed clear of new Covid-19 patients nine days in a row as of Sunday morning. In the evening, a 37-year-old British oil expert who had arrived in HCMC April 28 to work on a Petrovietnam project was confirmed infected.

"Patient 271" had landed along with 12 other experts on a private jet at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

All of them tested negative on arrival and were quarantined in Can Gio District. On May 2, they were tested again and one of them was confirmed positive. He has been moved for treatment to the city's Cu Chi Field Hospital.

Of the nation’s 271 Covid-19 patients, 217 have been discharged. Of the 54 active cases, 14 are relapses. Twelve of these have tested negative once and nine have done so twice.

More than 261,000 Covid-19 tests have been conducted in the country, including at wholesale markets in Hanoi and industrial parks in HCMC.

Vietnam has 27,409 people in quarantine at present – those who have returned from abroad and those who’d come in contact with infected patients. Of these, 238 suspected patients are quarantined at hospitals specialized for Covid-19 treatment, 5,871 are in centralized facilities and 21,300 are quarantined at home.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spread to 212 countries and territories, and reported deaths have topped 248,000.