Vietnam confirmed on Wednesday eight imported COVID-19 cases who are Russian experts having arrived in the country last week.

The eight new patients touched down at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on board flight IO4405 on July 11, the Ministry of Health said.

They flew in a group of 69 Russian experts and were sent to a centralized quarantine center in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, more than 100km from the city, upon landing.

Each of the 69 Russians stays in a separate room at the center. Their samples were taken for coronavirus testing on Monday.

The Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City confirmed eight of the samples to be positive on Tuesday.

The eight patients are being isolated for treatment at Ba Ria-Vung Tau Hospital.

Vietnam has documented a total of 381 coronavirus cases to date, with 353 having recovered and zero deaths, the health ministry said.

More than 12,000 people are in quarantine to stem viral transmission in Vietnam at the time of writing.

The Southeast Asian country has denied entry to all foreigners since March 22 to prevent COVID-19 spread but certain foreign experts and skilled workers are allowed in, subject to government approval.

All entrants have to be quarantined for 14 days as per local regulations.

Vietnam still bans commercial flights to and from foreign countries, with government-approved planes arranged to bring back citizens from overseas.

The nation is planning on resuming some regular international flights to mainland China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Laos, and Cambodia from August.

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