Vietnam on Sunday confirmed the seventh patient testing positive for the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 300 people in China, the core of the epidemic, and infected over 14,500 others around the world.

The patient is a Vietnamese American who waited for a connecting flight in the Chinese city of Wuhan for two hours on January 15 on his way from the U.S. to Vietnam, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health said on Sunday.

He is the seventh confirmed case in the Southeast Asian country.

The Vietnamese American T.K.H., 73, started to show signs of the novel coronavirus infection on January 26 and was admitted to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on January 31.

He was having a fever, coughing, and suffering shortness of breath, the health ministry said in a report.

Tests showed that he sustained damage to his lungs, with his throat sample collected on January 31 and returning positive now.

He is put on a ventilator at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, with antibiotics and antiviral drugs prescribed for him.

H. left the U.S. on January 14 and arrived in Wuhan on January 15. He stayed in the city for two hours.

He landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on January 16.

He stayed in Room 202 at Trieu Han Hotel at 382/1-3 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ward 5, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

He showed symptoms of a fever and coughing then.

Hotel employees took him to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases on January 31.

Local authorities have required the hotel not to receive any more guests, to disinfect their premises, and to isolate their staff together with the staying guests until February 15.

The novel coronavirus has killed 304 people in mainland China and struck 14,551 others, an overwhelming majority of whom are in China, since the first outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019.

Vietnam has confirmed seven cases so far, including four Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

One of the Chinese has been cured.

The World Health Organization has declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has grounded all flights to and from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Vietnam has also stopped issuing tourist visas to those coming from China, including Chinese and foreigners who have stayed in the mainland for 14 days – which is the incubation period of the new coronavirus.

The country is mulling over closing down schools to prevent the viral contagion.

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