"She is receiving intensive treatment and the health of the Vietnamese citizen is getting better," foreign ministry deputy spokesman Doan Khac Viet said at a press meet.

30-year-old Gieng Ly Mui, who tested positive with the Covid-19 virus in China’s Jiangxi Province on January 29, was treated at the People’s Hospital in Huichang County, Ganzhou City, before being transferred to Hospital 5 in the same city on January 31.

Mui, married to a Chinese man, hails from the southern province of Dong Nai. She is the only Vietnamese citizen infected with the Covid-19 virus outside of Vietnam, Viet said.

"Vietnam is closely monitoring the epidemic in China and other countries where it is present. Diplomatic agencies are constantly updating themselves with relevant information, have announced hotlines and are keeping in touch with citizens, ready to initiate protective measures when necessary," he added.

As of Thursday, Vietnam had 16 confirmed infection cases, of whom 14 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

The global death toll of the epidemic has reached 2,130 – one each in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, France and the Philippines, two each in Hong Kong, Iran and the Diamond Princess cruise ship currently quarantined off a Japanese port, and the rest in mainland China.