Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long chairs a meeting on Việt Nam's new domestic COVID-19 case on Monday afternoon.  Photo suckhoedoisong.vn

For the first time in three months, Việt Nam has recorded a community infection of COVID-19.

The patient lives in HCM City and is a friend of a flight attendant from Vietnam Airlines who tested positive on November 29. They came into contact when the latter was under quarantine at his rented house.

The new patient, the 1347th, is a 32-year-old man from Ward 3, District 6 who is a teacher at an English language centre. He is currently in quarantine. Officials are currently tracking people he came into contact with the man in the past few days.

It is understood the new patient had visited a karaoke bar and a cafe over the past few days.

Those businesses have been closed, and the authority has sent officers to spray the premises with disinfectant.

Staff who work at places the man has visited, have been requested to self-isolate at home and have COVID-19 tests. There have been 38 F1 cases and 154 F2 reported relating to this latest case.

The Ministry of Health has told all health facilities in the city to be extra vigilant, and has also spoken to Vietnam Airlines to ensure they comply with quarantine regulations.

Meanwhile, on Monday evening, three new imported cases were detected — two repatriated from Japan on separate flights, and another from the US.