Woman illegally returning from China tests negative for SARS-CoV-2 twice: Hospital

Passengers are waiting for flights at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.- VNA/VNS Photo

The woman will be transferred to Cu Chi Field Hospital for 14-day quarantine.

According to information from Vietnam’s communicable disease surveillance system, HCM City’s Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) on Monday detected a woman suspected of being positive for the novel strain of the coronavirus.

On the evening of May 28, the woman returned to Vietnam’s Cao Bang District from China via a border trail. She then arrived at Noi Bai International Airport, taking a flight to HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport on May 29.

The Health Ministry and HCM City’s Health Department carried out disease prevention and control measures, informing relevant agencies for co-operation.

The woman tested negative for the coronavirus for the first time on May 29 and a second time on Monday.

She was the second case to have been found illegally returning to Vietnam without undergoing the mandated 14-day quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first one was a 39-year-old man residing in Tan Chau District, the southern province of Tay Ninh, later identified as the 315th COVID-19 patient in Vietnam. He illegally returned to Vietnam from Siem Reap, Cambodia, through a border trail on May 2. He then came to stay at his relative’s house in Tan Dong Hamlet, Tan Thanh Commune, Tan Chau District.

The health ministry said it has asked the defence ministry to tighten patrols along trails linking Vietnam to neighbouring countries to minimise illegal entries that pose risks of spreading the COVID-19.

Deputy health minister Do Xuan Tuyen, vice head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, also asked Cao Bang Province People’s Committee to toughen control of trails along border areas.

People are called to report people returning illegally so relevant agencies could conduct necessary anti-epidemic measures including testing and sending them to quarantine areas.