Medical staff check body temperatures at a hospital in Đà Nẵng. All 55 Vietnamese people and three Italian returning from Italy tested negative with SARS-CoV-2 on Saturday. VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — All 55 Vietnamese citizens returning from Italy on a specially arranged flight that landed on Saturday morning, have tested negative for COVID-19.

Three Italians also on the flight, which touched down at Đà Nẵng International Airport, have also been told they are not carrying the virus.

Director of the city’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Dr Tôn Thất Thạnh said sample test results released in the evening were all negative. More tests will be carried out in the coming days.

He said the Vietnamese citizens are isolated at the city’s Military Training School in Hoà Vang District, 20km west of the city centre, for health checks and monitoring for two weeks.

The three Italians are quarantined at a hotel in the city’s downtown Hải Châu District.

The Vietnam Airlines (VNA) flight was arranged between the Vietnamese government and the Italian Embassy in Viet Nam and the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy.

It took a number of Italian citizens home on Friday, then returned the following day bringing back Vietnamese residents.— VNS