Vietnamese authorities have unveiled what they have known so far about the travel history of a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient as well as other passengers and crew who flew with the Japanese passenger to Ho Chi Minh City this week.

The Japanese national, together with 66 other passengers and six crew members, was on Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 from Siem Reap, Cambodia that landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City at 10:03 pm on Tuesday.

The Japanese then boarded a connecting flight, VN340, to Nagoya, Japan that departed at 1:19 am local time on Wednesday.

The person tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Japan with symptoms including a fever and coughing.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the infected Japanese occupied seat 33D on the VN814 flight and rested in a business lounge at the international terminal during his brief transit at the southern airdrome.

Regarding the other 66 passengers, 60 boarded connecting flights to other countries on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning, according to the Tan Son Nhat Border Police. 

Among them, 50 flew to London in the UK, eight to Japan, and two to the southern South Korean city of Busan.

Six passengers, namely one Vietnamese, three French citizens, one Australian, and one Filipino, entered Ho Chi Minh City through immigration.

With the exception of the Vietnamese passenger, all five foreigners boarded flights to other countries on Wednesday.

Specifically, the Filipino national flew to Manila, the Philippines, the three French nationals flew to Bangkok, Thailand, and the Australian passenger returned to Australia.

None of them were quarantined during their brief stay in the southern metropolis.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese passenger is now being quarantined at an isolation camp in the city alongside the crew of flight VN814 and ground staff that have come into contact with passengers on the Cambodia-Vietnam flight.

The family members of the Vietnamese passenger are also under home quarantine.

The 12-member crew of flight VN340 from Ho Chi Minh City to Nagoya with the COVID-19-infected Japanese returned to Tan Son Nhat on flight VN341 with 73 passengers.

The plane landed at the Ho Chi Minh City-based airdrome at 1:55 pm on Wednesday.

Upon their arrival, 51 of the 73 passengers, the 12 crew members, and at least seven members of the ground staff were put in quarantine.

Meanwhile, the remaining 22 travelers went through transit procedures in a private line at Tan Son Nhat to board different connecting flights bound for the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

All planes commissioned for the aforementioned flights have been thoroughly disinfected.

Functional forces of Vietnam and Japan are currently working to clarify the travel history of the Japanese COVID-19 patient while he was in Cambodia.

Over 95,300 people have been infected and 3,285 killed globally by COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Over 1,000 infections have been confirmed in Japan, with 12 deaths, as of Thursday.

Vietnam requires a compulsory 14-day quarantine period for anyone entering the country with a recent travel history to areas affected by COVID-19.

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