Bình Thuận Province Police started isolating two streets in Phan Thiết City in response to the virus outbreak. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thành

HCM CITY — Việt Nam’s 45th COVID-19 infection was confirmed on Friday afternoon by HCM City’s Pasteur Institute. The latest case was connected to the 34th patient in the coastal central province of Bình Thuận.

The male patient who lives in HCM City’s Tân Bình District had dinner and worked with the 34th patient in Bình Thuận on March 3.

On March 4, he returned to HCM City in a private car with three other people.

He started self-quarantining at home on Tuesday after the 34th patient was confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

On Thursday, he was sent to a centralised quarantine area in Tân Bình District after suffering a sore throat, and subsequently transferred to a makeshift hospital in Củ Chi District for treatment.

He tested positive for the virus at the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases on Thursday night. The confirmatory test performed by HCM City Pasteur Institute on Friday showed the same result.

His condition is reported to be stable.

As of Friday, nine people in contact with the 34th patient were infected with COVID-19.

The 34th case of COVID-19 reported on Tuesday is a 51-year-old businesswoman from Phan Thiết City who flew to New York and transited at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport on February 22.

She returned from Washington DC, transited at Qatar’s Doha International Airport on February 29 and landed at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City on March 2. — VNS