The boarding house in HCM City where K., one of the group of six Vietnamese nationals illegally sneaking through the border on December 24 who was confirmed to be the fourth in the group to be infected with coronavirus, has been locked down. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — A man in HCM City’s District 9 was confirmed this afternoon to be positive for COVID-19, the fourth among the group of six Vietnamese nationals sneaking into the country via the border on December 24.

This morning, a woman from Đồng Tháp Province who used to work in Cambodia, was confirmed to be positive for the virus, after two others tested positive on December 26 and December 28, respectively.

District 9’s authorities are locking down the man’s copper workshop and residence.

Since entering Việt Nam, the man – whose name was given as K. – had close contact with 16 people – 15 being the owner and workers at the workshop and the owner of the boarding houses where he lived.

So far, the first COVID-19 tests for these 16 people have all come back negative, according to HCM City's CDC.

K. said he used to work at the workshop in HCM City but since there was not much work he went to Myanmar, but the job there was also disappointing so he sought ways to return to Việt Nam.

Only on Monday did the authorities know about the identity of K., the last member of the group of six, after the workshop owner notified local authorities.

His close contacts were placed under quarantine immediately on Monday night even though K.'s COVID-19 status had not been determined.

K. said he didn't use his cellphone since returning to Việt Nam and didn't know authorities were investigating all close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases on the same ride from the border.

The six Vietnamese in question reportedly met at an entry point to Việt Nam near An Giang Province in the southern region, and then hired a seven-seat car to go back to their hometown in HCM City, Đồng Tháp and Vĩnh Long provinces.

The driver tested negative for the virus on his first test. — VNS