Vietnam has asked Russia to assist the country’s Vietnamese community in screening for and treating the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The appeal was made as 80 Vietnamese citizens living in Moscow have so far been diagnosed  with the disease and officials from the Southeast Asian country fear more diagnoses are to follow.

The Embassy of Vietnam stated the request in a diplomatic note sent to Russian authorities on Tuesday, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Statistics of the Vietnamese embassy showed that the first Vietnamese in Russia sickened by COVID-19 were diagnosed in Moscow in late March.

The virus has since spread rapidly within the Vietnamese community in the Russian capital.

As of Wednesday, about 80 Vietnamese citizens in Moscow had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Doctors have advised patients with stable health conditions to care for themselves at home as local hospitals struggle with overcrowding.  

The Embassy of Vietnam thus asked Russian authorities to continue providing necessary medical assistance to the Vietnamese community and carrying out COVID-19 testing and treatment.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, had infected over two million people and killed more than 134,600 globally as of Thursday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

By Wednesday, Russia had recorded 24,490 COVID-19 cases and 198 deaths, with 1,986 patients having recovered.

As overcrowding continues to be an issue in hospitals and medical centers in Moscow, the Russian government has opened several additional medical facilities to assist in treading COVID-19 patients.  

More than 1.5 million people across Russia have been screened for COVID-19.

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