A British pilot and three Vietnamese citizens returning from abroad are Vietnam’s latest patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as the country’s total infections rose to 91 on Friday evening.

Among the four new cases, three were confirmed in Ho Chi Minh City and one was in Hanoi.

Patient No. 88 is a 25-year-old Hanoi woman who studies in the UK.

She arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on March 12 and is in quarantine at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

The 89th patient is a 22-year-old Vietnamese woman in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

She flew from the U.S. to Japan and from there to Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City in the late hours of March 17 on flight NH831.

She is now quarantined and treated at a field hospital in Cu Chi District.

Patient No. 90, a 21-year-old Vietnamese woman residing in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, was in Barcelona, Spain for a month working as a hospitality intern.

From Barcelona, she transited Dubai in the UAE before arriving in Ho Chi Minh City on March 16 on flight EK392.

The 91st patient is a 43-year-old British man who works as a pilot for national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and resides in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City.

On February 8, he was a passenger on flight VN10 from London to Ho Chi Minh City.

He operated a number of domestic and international flights between February 8 and March 16 but could not immediately recall his detailed travel history.

On March 16, the Briton was part of a flight crew that operated flight VN272 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, as well as the return flight VN607 that landed at the southern airdrome on the same day.

Between March 13 and 18, he stayed in Ho Chi Minh City and visited a number of catering and entertainment establishments in the southern metropolis.

He developed a fever and coughing on March 17 and was admitted to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases on the next day with a damaged right lung.

He tested positive for the novel coronavirus twice on March 18 and March 20 and is now quarantined and treated at the infirmary in District 5.

The four new cases bring Vietnam’s COVID-19 tally to 91, with 17 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital. No death has been reported in the country so far.

Hanoi has confirmed 26 cases while Ho Chi Minh City has reported 20 cases, including three having walked out of the hospital free of the virus.

Vietnam reported a total of six new infections on Friday. Among them are two nurses in Hanoi who are the first health workers to be infected with the virus in the country.

Movement restrictions at Ho Chi Minh City condos

Two apartment complexes in District 7 and District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City where patient No. 89 and patient No. 91 reside, respectively, have been put on lockdown with movement restrictions in place.

Specifically, blocks T1A and T1B at the M-One Saigon South in Tan Kieng Ward, District 7 were closed off on Thursday evening as officials made a list of people who had had close contact with patient No. 89.

Block T2 of the apartment complex was on partial lockdown as well.

The M-One Saigon South apartment complex in Tan Kieng Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City is on lockdown on March 19, 2020. Photo: Hoang An / Tuoi Tre

Everyone entering or exiting M-One Saigon South -- which has a population of nearly 1,500 -- is now required to have their body temperature taken and present proof of residency.

Similarly, The Ascent condo in Thao Dien Ward, District 2 has also been sealed off since patient No. 91 -- who resides there -- tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

At both places, residents’ daily activities are under close monitoring by quarantine officials.

Residents at The Ascent condominium in Thao Dien Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City receive food and water from the outside during a lockdown on March 19, 2020. Photo: Hoang An / Tuoi Tre

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