Indian expert tests positive for coronavirus after 14-day quarantine in Hanoi

An Indian man working in Hanoi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus after he was released from 14-day centralized quarantine in Vietnam.

The incident occurred when Vietnam is dealing with a fresh community outbreak.

The man, born in 1984, came to Vietnam on April 17 and was sent to quarantine at a hotel in the northern port city of Haiphong, where he stayed until May 1. During this period, he was tested negative twice on April 19 and 30.

After leaving the quarantine zone, he returned to Hanoi and stayed with his wife and kids at Times City, an apartment complex in Hai Ba Trung district.

Functional force locks down the building where the Indian expert is living on May 3 night. Photo: Vinh Quang

On May 3, he took another Covid-19 test at a Vinmec healthcare facility, which was confirmed positive. He was then referred to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Further tests are needed for him to be tagged a Covid-19 patient.

The man did not get out of his house after returning to Hanoi. Six people living in the house with him in the past three days have been isolated and sampled for testing, according to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control.

Vietnam has banned entry of foreign nationals since March last year and only allowed foreigners who have diplomatic or official passports or those who are experts, investors or high-skilled workers to enter the country.

All entering the country from abroad must stay in quarantine zone for 14 days and be tested twice during this period.

The Indian expert has been the third case retested positive after 14-day mandatory quarantine since April 29. The first case was a Vietnamese person while the second was a Chinese man.

In another case related to the novel coronavirus in Vietnam, a 26-year-old man living in Hanoi’s Bac Tu Liem district was confirmed with Covid-19 positive on May 4.

He was a passenger who sat near a group of Chinese experts on Vietnam Airlines flight VN160 from Danang to Hanoi on April 29. The Chinese group had come to work in Vietnam and one of them had later been confirmed to be coronavirus carrier upon arriving to their home country.

The group had so far infected 14 people, including 13 in the northern province of Vinh Phuc and one in Hanoi.

Hanoi has officially confirmed three Covid-19 community transmission cases since last Thursday, all linked to a coronavirus hotspot in the northern province of Ha Nam. The city has suspended non-essential services like bars, karaoke and dance clubs, in addition to street food vendors and cafes to prevent the disease from spreading.

For the ongoing community outbreak, Vietnam has confirmed 36 locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases in a fresh community outbreak that started on April 29 after the country had spent more than one month free of community transmissions.

The total number of coronavirus patients in Vietnam currently stands at 2,985, with 35 deaths.