Free face masks are given away at Nội Bài International Airport. All passengers at the airport have been advised to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. – VNA/VNS Photo Phan Công

HÀ NỘI — A 29-year-old Vietnamese woman from Vĩnh Phúc Province’s Bình Xuyên District has tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed infections to eight in Việt Nam. The patient is in a stable condition, however.

According to the Ministry of Health, a team had been sent to the district to inspect preventative measures. After reviewing disease prevention work, they detected the woman among eight returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan on the same flight as three infected with the virus who are now being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases and Department of Tropical Disease at Thanh Hóa General Hospital.

The team decided to take samples and send them to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) for testing. She was quarantined on January 31.

The patient is now being isolated at the Central Hospital for Tropical Disease in Đông Anh in a stable condition.

The woman and seven other Vietnamese people were sent to Wuhan for training by Nihon Plast Co Ltd of Japan and returned to Việt Nam on China Southern Airlines flight CZ8315 on January 17.

Upon arrival at Nội Bài International Airport, she was picked up by her company’s bus and taken to its headquarters. She attended a meeting before catching a bus home.

In another development, a 34-year-old woman from the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai has been quarantined after showing symptoms including coughing and a runny nose.

She returned from Wuhan on January 21. She took a flight from Hà Nội to Pleiku City the next day. 

On January 28, she started coughing and suffered a runny nose. She was admitted to Gia Lai General Hospital and was diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday. Her samples were delivered to the Pasteur Institute for testing.

She was said to have interacted with her boyfriend and many relatives between her arrival in Việt Nam and hospitalisation.

Successful treatment

Lê Văn Sỹ, director of Thanh Hóa General Hospital, said on Monday that after 10 days of isolation and follow-up treatment, the hospital successfully cured a 25-year-old female patient who tested positive for coronavirus.

The patient has not reported symptoms of fever and coughing for five days and biochemical tests have been normal. Her health has completely recovered.

On Monday morning, she was discharged from the hospital and the treatment was free of charge.

Like the patient from Vĩnh Phúc, she was sent to China for training by Nihon Plast Co Ltd of Japan in Wuhan City.

Upon arrival at Nội Bài International Airport on January 17, she was picked up by her company’s bus and taken to its headquarters.

She travelled to the Giáp Bát Bus Station and then caught a bus to her hometown on January 23, arriving home at 6pm on the same day. Four hours later, the woman began suffering symptoms of the infection, such as coughing and a fever, and was taken to Yên Định District General Hospital on January 24. Then she was transferred to the department of tropical diseases at Thanh Hóa General Hospital with a high fever.

She was put in isolation and her samples was sent to the NIHE for testing. They tested positive for the virus.

She received treatment in accordance with the guidelines set by the ministry of health.

All samples taken on January 30 and 31 showed she was negative for coronavirus.

After HCM City, Thanh Hóa is the second province in the country to successfully treat patients infected with the virus.

Currently, the province has only three patients who remain quarantined pending test results.

As of Sunday night, 20 provinces and cities have announced plans to extend the Tết break for students. Of these, 16 provinces and cities including Vĩnh Phúc, Thanh Hóa, Hà Nội, Long An and Hải Phòng have decided to allow students enjoy a week off from February 3-February 9. Other provinces are giving students at least two days off.

The announcement was made after Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc agreed with the Ministry of Education and Training’s proposals to allow students extra days off to prevent the spread of the virus.

Dozens of universities and colleges have also reported they would postpone or reschedule their classes.  —  VNS