Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee has called local residents to calm down following the news on the city’s first coronavirus infected case which was confirm late Friday.

The city’s mayor made the statement at a meeting in Friday evening after Hanoi confirmed the first case and the 17th case in Vietnam tested positive with a new coronavirus.

Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee. Photo: VNExpress

“I call for local people to calm down with vigilance of the epidemic,” Mr. Chung said, adding that related agencies are looking for people who made contact with the patient to put them in quarantine.

The mayor expressed concerns about Hanoi’s high risk of infection as the city is a destination of visitors from nearly 90 countries which are stricken by the epidemic.

“I wish that people are aware of risk of infection and the danger of the epidemic to isolate themselves when returning to the country and inform health agencies to avoid risk of epidemic spreading,” Chung emphasized.

At a meeting earlier on Friday, Mr. Chung asked local authorities to check all Hanoi’s citizens and students coming back from European countries to the city from February 20 without medical declaration.

Hanoi’s first patient is Nguyen Hong Nhung, 26, who went to London, the UK on February 15 and travelled to Italy on February 18 and flew to France after that before flying back to London late February.

She got symptoms of coronavirus infection before returning to Vietnam on March 3. She didn’t make medical declaration when arrived in the home country. She went to Hong Ngoc hospital on March 5 and was immediately moved to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for quarantine.

After she was tested positive, Hanoi immediately quarantined people who made close contact with her, including a private driver and five housemaids and 17 doctors and nurses at Hong Ngoc hospital.

The authorities have disinfected and blocked a section of Truc Bach street which her house is located.

Meanwhile, the authorities have worked with Vietnam Airlines to identify crewmembers and passengers in a flight from London to Noi Bai International Airport for quarantine and medical supervision. A list of all passengers have been unveiled.

Hanoi’s authorities have informed France and the UK of the case for identifying Nhung’s footprints there.