The area where the patient is living in Hà Nam has been locked down. — Photo: nld.com.vn

HÀ NAM — A 28-year-old man in the northern province of Hà Nam tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after finishing 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

Director of the provincial department of health Nguyễn Trọng Khải confirmed the case with media on Thursday morning.

The man entered Việt Nam on April 7 after ending a labour contract in Japan.

He was quarantined for 14 days in central Đà Nẵng City and tested negative for coronavirus three times before completing the quarantine period.

The last test was conducted on April 21.

After returning home from the mandatory quarantine period, he developed signs of fever and sore throat and was taken to a local clinic for a COVID-19 test on April 28. The result was positive.

The test was confirmed once by the Hà Nam Province Centre for Disease Control. More tests will be required to ensure accurate results, the director said on Thursday morning.

According to the provincial department of health, after completing the quarantine period in Đà Nẵng, on April 22, the patient took a coach from Đà Nẵng to Liêm Tuyền toll booth in Hà Nam Province then took a taxi to his house to self quarantine at home.

On the afternoon of April 22, he had a hair cut at a local barber shop and drank beer with four friends at a bar in Bình Lục District in the evening.

He went to visit a relative in the area and met five people on April 23.

He went to a petrol station on April 24 and met a member of staff there. He also had contact with five other people the same day.

Thirty-two people have been identified as having direct contact with the case while 200 others are F2.

The health department of Hà Nam Province and local authorities have taken samples and quarantined all people in close contact with the case and disinfected the patient’s house.

The list of F1 and F2 is being tracked further.

People who had close contact with the new case have been advised to make health declarations and quarantine at home.

In a related move, a person in the central province of Nghệ An was confirmed as positive for COVID-19 on Thursday morning after sharing the quarantine site with a positive case confirmed earlier.

The new patient entered Việt Nam on April 14 from Japan and has been quarantined at a hotel in Con Cuông District.

The case has been transferred to a different site after a person sharing the room was confirmed to have COVID-19 on April 20. — VNS