Samples collected from a Vietnamese man who was found dead on a passenger bus in the north-central province of Nghe An on early Monday morning were negative for COVID-19, the official name of the disease caused by the new coronavirus, according to the provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The test results came back negative on Monday afternoon, Nghe An CDC director Nguyen Van Dinh said.

The victim, 56-year-old D.D.N., worked as a security guard in Hanoi.

He reportedly consumed alcohol on Saturday and contacted his family members to tell them about his health problems.

He said he was feeling fatigued and coughing up blood.

At around 8:00 pm on Sunday, the man caught a long-haul bus from Hanoi to his hometown in Nghe An Province.

The coach carried a total of 13 people that night, including nine passengers together with drivers and attendants.

As the bus arrived in Do Luong District in Nghe An at 3:00 am on Monday, the bus conductor tried to wake N. up and discovered he had passed away.

The incident was promptly reported to the Nghe An CDC.

N. was sampled for COVID-19 testing, while authorities began tracking all people who were on the same bus as the man.

The contact tracing mission was later canceled after the test returned negative.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 3.06 million people and killed more than 211,600 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 270 cases so far, with 222 having recovered.

No death from the disease has been recorded in the country.

The country has reported only two additional patients, both imported cases in quarantine, since April 17.

However, eight people have retested positive for the novel coronavirus following their recovery in Vietnam.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!