KHÁNH HOÀ — A receptionist at a hotel in the popular beach city of Nha Trang has become the sixth confirmed coronavirus patient in Việt Nam.
The Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed the 25-year-old is the sixth person to test positive for the pneumonia-like virus and the first Vietnamese to catch the virus via human-to-human transmission in the country.
The woman works at a hotel in the south-central province of Khánh Hoà, a popular destination for Chinese and Russian tourists.
The health ministry has subsequently declared a coronavirus epidemic in Khánh Hoà Province in light of this new case.
On January 17, the patient had reportedly come into close contact with the first confirmed cases of nCoV infection in Việt Nam – a Chinese father and son from the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, China’s Wuhan city.
Two days later, she suffered from light coughing and a fever but did not go to the hospital and only bought over-the-counter medicines, which relieved her fever.
On January 24, when the father and son’s test results returned positive, her clinical samples were collected and sent for further analyses at the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang.
Deputy health minister Nguyễn Trường Sơn said the patient is currently under quarantine and close observation at the Khánh Hoà Hospital of Tropical Diseases.
Sơn said she is in stable condition and her coughing has already ceased, adding that she is in good spirits and cooperating with the health workers.
During the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday however, the patient returned to her hometown in Vạn Ninh District so local health authorities have put a number of people who might have close contacts with her on the monitoring list.
Khánh Hoà Province’s health department said she could be discharged if all goes well and the test results return negative after 14 days of treatment.
The infected Chinese son in question has already recovered from the disease after receiving treatment in Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City.
The other three Vietnamese infection cases had all returned from Wuhan. — VNS
