Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Friday appointed Nguyen Thanh Long, deputy head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Communications and Education, as deputy minister of health as the country strives to tighten curb on the new China coronavirus or nCoV.

Nguyen Thanh Long has been appointed as deputy minister of health

The appointment takes immediate effect, the Government Portal said.

Long, 54, was a deputy minister of health from December 2011 to October 2018 before being taking the current post at the Commission for Communications and Education, which oversees ideological, cultural and press issues in Vietnam.

He started his career at the Health Ministry as a preventive medicine specialist in 1995 and led the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention between 2008 and 2011.

Returning to the old post, Long will be a member of the Working Group for nCoV Prevention.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam is now in charge of the Health Ministry and the minister post is still vacant after the parliament released Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien from her post in November 2019.

Vietnam has confirmed five individuals infected with the nCoV, including two Chinese nationals on January 23 and three Vietnamese citizens on January 30.

The country has recorded 97 suspected cases with signs of fever and cough, all from China’s virus-stricken areas. Of them, 32 are in quarantine pending test results, according to the Health Ministry.