Vietnam confirms 48th Covid-19 case
Vietnam confirmed a new Covid-19 infection in its southern Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday (March 14), bringing the total number in the country to 48, its Ministry of Health announced.
The latest case is a 31-year-old man from Ho Chi Minh City who was in contact with Vietnam’s 34th confirmed case, a 51-year-old Vietnamese female who has travelled to the United States and transferred in South Korea and Qatar before returning home on March 2, in central Binh Thuan province.
He was on a same car with the country’s 45th case, who was confirmed by the health ministry on Friday and was also reportedly in contact with the 34th case.
The newly confirmed patient conducted self-quarantine from Wednesday when receiving the information about the 34th case testing positive for Covid-19. He was transferred to a concentrated quarantine site in Ho Chi Minh City.
So far Vietnam has recorded 48 infected cases with 16 already cured and discharged from hospital. It has seen 32 new infections since March 6.
The country has had 94 suspected cases with 27,180 being put under quarantine as of Saturday, according to its health ministry.
The announcement follows the news that the Vietnamese Formula One Grand Prix set for early April has been postponed due to the outbreak, the vietnamese Grand Prix Corporation announced Friday.
The organiser said in a statement that the decision to postpone the race, due to take place between April 3 and 5, is based on « extensive consideration of the ongoing and developing coronavirus situation » and after the recent WHO declaration of the outbreak as a global pandemic.
The vietnamese race’s postponement came along with postponement of the Bahrain Grands Prix scheduled for March 20-22 and follows the cancellation of this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, which was announced earlier on Friday.
The vietnamese Grand Prix Corporation said it will look to announce an alternative date for the race and provide a further update to ticket buyers, sponsors and partners « in due course. »
Xinhua Agency – March 14, 2020