Passengers are waiting for flights at Tần Sơn Nhầt International Airport. —VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — A 30-year-old woman who illegally returned to Việt Nam from China on May 28 and then flew from Hà Nội to HCM City has tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 twice, director of HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases said on Tuesday morning.

The woman will be transferred to Củ Chi Field Hospital for 14-day quarantine.

According to information from Việt Nam’s communicable disease surveillance system, HCM City’s Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) on Monday detected a woman suspected of being positive for the novel strain of the coronavirus.

On the evening of May 28, the woman returned to Việt Nam’s Cao Bằng District from China via a border trail. She then arrived at Nội Bài International Airport, taking a flight to HCM City’s Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport on May 29.

The Health Ministry and HCM City’s Health Department carried out disease prevention and control measures, informing relevant agencies for co-operation.

The woman tested negative for the coronavirus for the first time on May 29 and a second time on Monday.

She was the second case to have been found illegally returning to Việt Nam without undergoing the mandated 14-day quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first one was a 39-year-old man residing in Tân Châu District, the southern province of Tây Ninh, later identified as the 315th COVID-19 patient in Việt Nam. He illegally returned to Việt Nam from Siem Reap, Cambodia, through a border trail on May 2. He then came to stay at his relative’s house in Tân Đông Hamlet, Tân Thành Commune, Tân Châu District.

The health ministry said it has asked the defence ministry to tighten patrols along trails linking Việt Nam to neighbouring countries to minimise illegal entries that pose risks of spreading the COVID-19.

Deputy health minister Đỗ Xuân Tuyên, vice head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, also asked Cao Bằng Province People’s Committee to toughen control of trails along border areas.

People are called to report people returning illegally so relevant agencies could conduct necessary anti-epidemic measures including testing and sending them to quarantine areas. — VNS