Health staff collect samples to test for SARS-CoV-2 in Hạ Lôi Village in Hà Nội’s Mê Linh District. — VNA/VNS Photo

BẮC GIANG — 25 people in close contact with the 262nd patient, who was residing in Hạ Lôi Hamlet in Hà Nội’s Mê Linh District – the country’s newest coronavirus infection cluster – have tested negative for the virus, northern Bắc Giang Province’s Department of Health has announced.

Từ Quốc Hiệu, deputy head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control said on Tuesday that 25 samples of those in close contact with the patient, who is also a worker of Samsung Electronics Vietnam in Yên Phong District in northern Bắc Ninh Province, tested negative.

The remaining 11 people, including two in Yên Dũng and Tân Yên districts and nine in a quarantine facility in Bắc Ninh Province, have been tested and are waiting for the results.

On April 14, the northern Centre for Disease Control would continue collecting samples of those in close contact with the patient for tests.

Patient 262nd, a 26-year-old male employee of Samsung Electronics Vietnam in Bắc Ninh Province, was confirmed as infected with the COVID-19 on April 13.

The worker lived in Hạ Lôi Village, where 12 infected cases have been reported so far.

The worker was away from the office and self-isolating since April 7.

By 6am on April 14, the steering committee has defined and isolated 223 cases having contacted the patient.

As many as 73 cases have been taken to quarantine facilities in Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces and 150 been quarantined at home. — VNS