British visitor is Vietnam’s 31st Covid-19 infection

Vietnam’s Health Ministry confirmed Monday that the 49-year-old British man is being treated at Bac Quang Nam Hospital in the central province of Quang Nam. He is in stable condition.

The unnamed man is the latest Covid-19 confirmation among those who traveled in the same plane as Nguyen Hong Nhung, who tested Covid-19 positive Friday. Nhung is Hanoi's first coronavirus patient and Vietnam's 17th case after the country going 22 days with no new infection.

Nine other foreigners – seven Brits, one Irish and a Mexican aged 58-74 – who were Nhung’s co-passengers had tested positive for the novel coronavirus Sunday. They have been quarantined.

Nhung, 26, had flown to Hanoi from London on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054, in the business class. There were 201 passengers on the flight, including 21 in the business class, Vietnam Airlines General Director Duong Tri Thanh said Saturday. Of the 21, 18 were foreigners.

The latest confirmation takes the national total of Covid-19 infections to 31.

On Sunday, it was confirmed that a 61-year-old Hanoian on the same flight as Nguyen Hong Nhung had contracted the novel coronavirus. The man lives in the same neighborhood as Nhung in Ba Dinh District.

City authorities have been working with Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport to collect information about 217 passengers and crew members on the flight.

On Saturday, a 27-year-old man returning to Vietnam from South Korea’s Daegu City became the 18th while Nhung’s personal chauffeur and her aunt were the 19th and 20th cases.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 104 countries and territories around the world, with the death toll climbing to 3,806.