MPI delegation tested negative for the coronavirus

All but one person of the MPI delegation tested negative for the coronavirus

This has been confirmed by the Ministry of Health in the evening on March 9. Accordingly, excluding the 21^st infected person, who was diagnosed two days ago, the rest of the delegates of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Minister Nguyen Chi Dung have tested negative for the virus. They are reported to be in good health, showing no symptoms and tested negative twice.

Minister Dung and the delegation were on flight VN0054 of Vietnam Airlines from London and landed in Hanoi in the early morning of March 2. Also at the business class of the flight, Patient 17 (Nguyen Hong Nhung) was sitting close to Minister Dung, along with Patient 21 (Nguyen Quang Thuan), a member in the MPI delegation. He is vice chairman of the Central Theoretical Council of the Communist Party of Vietnam and a member of the Advisory Team of the prime minister.

On March 7, the MPI sterilised its entire headquarters (6b Hoang Dieu Street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi). All MPI delegates who were on flight VN0054 are isolated at home and their health is monitored regularly. In case they develop symptoms of fever, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, or breathing difficulties, they will be immediately quarantined at the hospital and tested for COVID-19.

On flight VN0054, after the two cases were detected for COVID-19 infection, eight foreigners from the UK, Ireland, and Mexico, who travelled to Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, Hue, and Danang, have also tested positive for the coronavirus. All of them are being treated at hospitals and their health are getting better.

Before flight VN0054, Vietnam has reported no new case for 22 days between February 13 and March 6. As of March 9, Vietnam reported 31 cases of infection, 16 of whom have recovered. Most of the recent new cases can be tied to VN0054. Besides these, up to 23,228 people undergo isolation at home or in concentrated facilities and 101 others are quarantined at hospitals.