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According to the ministry's report, two of the new patients are from the Covid-19 hotspot of Hai Duong Province.
The other patient is a 30-year-old woman who returned from the Philippines to Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa Province on March 7. She was sent to a quarantine area in Ninh Thuan Province upon arrival and tested positive for coronavirus on March 17.
The patient is now being treated at the Ninh Thuan Provincial Genera Hospital.
With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 2,570, including 908 locally-transmitted cases reported since the new outbreak started in Hai Duong on January 28. Hai Duong Province alone has recorded 724 cases.
As of 6 pm on March 18, a total of 2,198 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital. There have been 35 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.
At present, nearly 40,000 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.
