A local woman has her nasal swab taken for Covid-19 testing. Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally amounted to 12,424 with 121 fresh cases being confirmed by the Ministry of Health this afternoon, June 18 – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – Vietnam’s Covid-19 cases soared to 12,424 with 121 fresh cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health this afternoon, June 18. The new infections included two imported cases and 119 locally-infected ones.

HCMC remains among the biggest coronavirus hotspots as it accounted for half of the country’s domestic infections, at 59. Bac Giang recorded 36 cases, Binh Duong 12, Bac Ninh 10, Hoa Binh one and Lao Cai one.

Thai Nguyen City in the northern province of the same name recently announced that a local woman in Phan Dinh Phung Ward tested positive for the coronavirus last night, the local media reported.

Mai Xuan Tung, deputy chief of the city’s government’s office, said this morning that the woman flew from HCMC to Hanoi four days ago, boarding the local carrier Bamboo Airways’ Flight QH0224.

Earlier, she underwent a mandatory 21-day quarantine in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang and tested negative for the virus three times, with the third test’s result coming out on June 13.

After her arrival in Hanoi, she returned to her home in Thai Nguyen on a car and then a motorbike taxi. She declared her health status at a medical station in Phan Dinh Phung Ward and was asked to self-quarantine at home for another seven days.

However, on June 15, she visited a Viettel store and an Agribank branch in the city. She also went to a supermarket the following day.

On June 17, she tested positive for the virus and was sent into quarantine.

The local authorities then locked down her place of residence, quarantined the neighboring areas, and conducted contact tracing. As of last night, they found 43 people coming into close contact with her and placed them in quarantine.