The Da Nang Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced on 8 March that Da Nang had recorded its first two cases of the new coronavirus with patients testing positive for the virus. They are visitor arrivals from the UK and they were among passengers who flew with a 26-year old woman returning from Europe on 2 March, and she was then confirmed as Viet Nam’s 17th Covid-19 patient on 6 March.

Both people are considered presumptive positive for Covid-19, which means the city’s testing came back positive, but that the results must be confirmed by the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute. Their samples have been sent to the Nha Trang lab.

At 5.15am on 2 March, the UK visitors flew to Da Nang from Ha Noi on the Vietnam Airlines flight VN0163. After arriving in Da Nang at 9.00am on the same day, they stayed at a hotel in Hai Chau District.

Currently, the two infected patients are under quarantine at the Da Nang General Hospital. In addition, the city’s authorities have issued quarantine order to hotel guests and its staff after the two British guests were found to be positive for Covid-19. The city’s health officials are tracking people who had close contact with the two infected patients.

By PHAN CHUNG - Translated by MAI DUNG