Sơn Trà District's Health Centre begins taking samples of suspected cases who are living in high-risk areas on Tuesday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Eighteen new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Tuesday evening. Of those, 17 were community transmitted cases and one was imported, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced.

Sixteen patients were from Đà Nẵng City, aged between 8 and 93. Eight had recently come into close contact with a positive case, five were taking care of family members at Đà Nẵng General Hospital, one was a health worker at the Đà Nẵng Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital, one was a patient at Đà Nẵng General Hospital, and one had medical treatment at Gia Đình Hospital.

One patient who tested positive was a 50-year-old man from Đồng Nai Province’s Quang Vinh Ward. The patient visited a family member who was under treatment at Đà Nẵng General Hospital.

One was a Vietnamese citizen returning from Equatorial Guinea. The 50-year-old man was quarantined after entry at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases’ second branch. His second test was positive.

As of Tuesday evening, Việt Nam has recorded a total of 670 COVID-19 cases. Of those, 308 were imported.

The number of community transmission cases has reached 222 since July 25 when the country recorded its first local case after three months being virus-free.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Centre for Disease Control in the northern province of Hoà Bình announced four COVID-19 patients have fully recovered and were discharged from the provincial general hospital.
The four were among 85 Vietnamese students returning to Việt Nam from Russia on July 17 and were immediately quarantined upon arrival. Aged 24 and 25, the patients are from Hà Nội as well as the northern provinces of Hưng Yên and Nam Định.

According to the hospital’s director Bùi Thu Hằng, all tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2 as of August 3, and as such qualified to be discharged. — VNS