Vietnam reports no new Covid-19 patient

Vietnam has not recorded new coronavirus infections Sunday morning, keeping the country’s tally at 240, the Health Ministry said.

On March 6, Hanoian Nguyen Hong Nhung was confirmed Covid-19 positive after returning from Europe. Before that Vietnam had gone 22 days without recording a new infection.

However, since then, new infections have been recorded every day. On Saturday, the health ministry confirmed just three new infections – a 17-year-old girl from Ha Tinh and a 29-year-old woman from Bac Giang Province, both returning from Thailand, and another person related to Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital. 

Vietnam had recorded 19 new Covid-19 infections on March 22, , marking the highest number in a single day.

Of the current 240 Covid-19 cases, 90 have been discharged and 150 are active. As many as 149 cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from abroad, mostly Europe and the U.S., and more than 60 people are related to the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi and Buddha Bar & Grill in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest Covid-19 hotspots.

The country entered a 15-day nationwide social distancing campaign starting Wednesday, not allowing gatherings of more than two people and asking people not to leave their homes to contain the spread of the pandemic. The  step was taken citing a crucial two-week period in the nation’s Covid-19 fight.

The government also suspended all inbound international flights and halted road transport services until April 15 to limit travel in the country of 94 million people. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far spread to more than 200 countries and territories, claiming more than 64,000 lives. 

By Le Nga – VnExpress.net – April 5, 2020