A Vietnamese man has tested positive for COVID-19 in the central city of Da Nang, ending a period of 99 days in which Vietnam had recorded no community transmissions, state media reported on Friday.
Doctors initially suspected the patient, a 57-year-old man local to the area, had contracted pneumonia, yet coronavirus tests came back from two separate testing centres, local newspaper VnExpress said.
Fifty people who were in contact with the man have been isolated and the entire hospital has been placed under lockdown.
Nguyen Tien Hong, deputy director of Da Nang’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told local media that a number of people who had been in contact with the man were also showing symptoms.
There is a chance the case may be a false positive, as occurred with an Indonesian man who initially tested positive for the virus in Ho Chi Minh City on July 1.
Vietnam has thus far proved a success story in its response to the pandemic.
Only 412 cases have been recorded, and noone has died as a result.
All recent new cases have come from Vietnamese nationals who were repatriated after becoming stranded overseas. (dpa/NAN)