A woman washes and sanitizes her hands at a concentrated quarantine area (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Seven COVID-19 cases were detected in Vietnam in the past 24hours to 6pm January 5, all among people quarantined after returning fromabroad, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Preventionand Control.
Amongthe new patients, six were Vietnamese citizens returning from the US, thePhilippines and Japan, and the seventh was a British citizen arriving fromDubai.
Thenewly found infections raised the national count of COVID-19 cases to 1,504,including 693 locally transmitted cases.
The number of recovered patients is now 1,339 while fatalities remain at 35.
Amongpatients still under treatment, nine have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once,six twice and five thrice.
Atotal of 19,286 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or returnedfrom pandemic-hit areas are being quarantined nationwide.
In the early morning of January 5, border guards in northern Lai Chau province arrested 23 workers when they were illegally crossing the border into Vietnam.
Later on the day, eight Vietnamese people illegally entering China were arrested and handed over by Chinese police to border guards in Lai Chau province.
The Ma Lu Thang border guard post and relevant forces checked up the health of all the 31 people, disinfecting their luggage and then sent them to concentrated quarantine establishments in line with regulations./.
