People get free face masks to prevent the coronavirus in Hà Nam Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — Two more people from the same family had tested positive for the coronavirus in Việt Nam, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 12, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday.

They have been identified as a 49-year-old woman from Sơn Lôi Commune, Bình Xuyên District in the northern province of Vĩnh Phúc and her daughter.

The woman is the mother of a male patient who tested positive earlier this week. She started to develop a cough on Monday.

The second patient is the younger sister of the male patient. The 16-year-old had been complaining about a sore throat and fatigue.

The two patients had been isolated at a local medical centre and were both in a stable condition, according to local authorities.

The male patient was among eight people who returned from Wuhan in China on the same flight. Four of them were infected with the virus.

Eight 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.

One of the patients has now been released after doctors confirmed she was free of the virus.

Việt Nam has so far confirmed 12 cases and 304 suspected ones, of whom 227 have tested negative for the virus and 77 are in isolation while samples undergo testing. 

As of 7am yesterday, the epidemic had claimed 565 lives and infected 28,276 people in 27 countries and territories, according to the Ministry of Health. — VNS