The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Embassies of France, Italy and the UK in Hanoi and has asked the Vietnamese Embassies in Paris, Rome and London to share information with all relevant agencies of the host countries regarding the movement history and temporary residence address in the UK of a Vietnamese woman who was tested positive for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) after travelling to several European nations.
Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang revealed the information on March 7, adding that the ministry has also informed the nations which had citizens on the same flight as the confirmed patient so that they could deploy proper measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus in their communities.
“Vietnam will continue to regularly share information and coordinate with other countries and international organisations and relevant partners in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19),” she added.
The 26-year-old patient, named N.H.N, earlier visited her sister in the UK, then travelled to Milan (Italy) and Paris (France) and then returned to Hanoi on March 1 on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054.
After coming back to Vietnam, she showed fever, coughing and fatigue symptoms. The patient went to Hong Ngoc hospital in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh district for a medical check-up and was diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia.
As she had travelled through COVID-19-hit countries, the patient was brought to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for treatment and supervision. Her sample then tested positive for the virus.
The Ministry of Health said on March 8 that another case of COVID-19 infection has been recorded in Hanoi, bringing the total number of cases in Vietnam to 21.
N.Q.T, a 61-year-old male patient from Truc Bach ward, Hanoi’s Ba Dinh district, had been seated close to patient N.H.N during the aforementioned Vietnam Airlines flight.
