The Cu Chi Makeshift Hospital for Covid-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Congly
"The 24-year-old Vietnamese woman who lives in the UK arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City on March 9 and was sent to Cu Chi Makeshift Hospital for Covid-19 patients the same day," the ministry reported.
"Her samples showed positive for SARS-CoV-2 on the morning of March 10."
According to the ministry, the woman is a friend of the 17th Covid-19 case Nguyen Hong Nhung. They met in London with a group of friends on February 27. Nhung returned to Hanoi on March 2 and tested positive for the virus on March 6.
Meanwhile, this friend started to cough from March 2 and came to a hospital in London for a health check and was treated at home. Her condition worsened on March 7 when she also heard about Nhung's virus infection in Vietnam. She came to hospital and declared her health but the hospital in London didn't carry out viral tests but just asked her to self-quarantine at home.
She hired a private plane to fly to Vietnam and was admitted by the Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Health on March 9.
The country has recorded 16 new cases in five days – starting with the discovery of 17th case late last Friday, since the 16th positive case in the country was successfully treated and discharged on February 26.
The other cases included 10 foreign tourists and a Vietnamese man who boarded the same flight from London to Vietnam with the country’s 17th COVID-19 patient, two Vietnamese nationals who had close contact with her, and one 27-year-old Vietnamese man returning from Republic of Korea’s coronavirus epicentre Daegu on March 3.