Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has confirmed five more people infected with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), all related to the 34th patient detected in the country, taking to toll of infections in the country to 44.

An employee spray disinfectant at Binh Thuan General Hospital. Photo: VnExpress

The five cases include three of her family and all live in the central province of Binh Thuan, hometown of the 34th patient, VnExpress reported.

The 34th patient, a 51-year-old business woman, flew to the United State with a stopover in South Korea in February and returned to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City transiting through Qatar on March 2, and went straight to her home on a family car.

She developed symptoms of Covid-19 on March 5 and was hospitalized on March 9 and tested positive for the virus on March 10. From her return to Vietnam until being admitted to Binh Thuan General Hospital, she met with a large number of people.

So far, eight people have got infected from her, making her the largest source of contagion so far. Before her, six were infected from a worker in Vinh Phuc province that came back from the Chinese city of Wuhan on January 17.

As many as 15 people, including nine positive with the virus, are in quarantine at Binh Thuan General Hospital. All are in stable condition, according to the hospital’s Deputy Director Ngo Luong Lam Kieu.

Among 44 infected cases in Vietnam at the time of writing, 17 are related to Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054 that arrived in Hanoi on March 2 from London. Five in Hanoi have been confirmed positive.

The Vietnamese government has stated that the Covid-19 epidemic is under control in the country and is doing all means to curb it, including suspending visas for citizens from epidemic-hit areas and putting streets with infected ones under lockdown.