Vietnam has confirmed five more people infected with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) on March 17, taking the toll of infections to 66, according to the Ministry of Health.

More people positive with the virus are those returning to the country from abroad

The five newly-found cases include two in Hanoi. One (62nd patient) is an 18-year-old student in Hoan Kiem district who returned to the country on March 16 from the UK, and the other (63rd patient) is a 20-year-old student in Cau Giay district who took a flight from the UK and landed in Noi Bai International Airport on March 15.

The remaining three are located in Ho Chi Minh City. Patient No.64 is a woman of 36 years of age arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on March 12 from Switzerland with a stopover in Dubai. 

Patient No.65 is a woman, 28, linked to two people who got infected from the 34th case and was confirmed positive with the virus on March 7 and March 10. 

Patient No.66 is a 21-year-old girl who departed the US to Canada transiting through Taiwan and landed in Vietnam on March 16.

With the new infections today, Hanoi tops localities in the number of infected cases, 16, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with 11. The central province of Binh Thuan ranks third with 9, and the northern province of Quang Ninh takes the fourth place with 5.

Of the 66 patients identified so far, 16 recovered and were discharged by February 26. Of the 50 active cases, 18 are foreigners, including 12 Britons, one Irish, one Mexican, one Czech, one German, one French, and one Latvian.

No death has been reported in Vietnam while two in their sixties are in critical health status.

As of March 17, the global infections surpassed 189,000 while the death toll hit more than 7,500. Outside China, Italy’s caseload approached 28,000, followed by Iran with 16,169 cases, Spain with 11,409, South Korea with 8,320, Germany with 8,084, and France with 6,633.