A additional 21 coronavirus cases were recorded in Vietnam on Monday, with 15 in Da Nang and six in neigboring Quang Nam Province, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The fifteen patients in Da Nang include 12 people in close contact with confirmed cases, two people taking care of their patient relative at Da Nang Hospital, and one outpatient at Da Nang Family Hospital.

Their ages range from 20 to 78.

The six cases in Quang Nam are all linked to Da Nang Hospital, namely three patient visitors, one person taking care of an undetected COVID-19 patient, one person in close contact with the same patient, and an inpatient in the nephrology and endocrinology ward of the hospital.   

Aged 38 to 83, they are isolated for treatment at a hospital in Quang Nam.

One patient was declared free of the virus on Monday, the national steering committee said.

Vietnam has registered 642 coronavirus cases as of Monday evening, with 374 recoveries and six deaths.

At the time of writing, the nation is quarantining 103,268 people who were in close contact with infected patients or entered Vietnam from virus-hit regions.

At least 195 patients have been traced to Da Nang, a touristy city on the central coast, since July 25, when a new community-based case was detected after 99 days of zero documented local infections in Vietnam.

Tens of thousands of people have returned to big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from Da Nang over the past weeks so authorities are aggressively tracing them for testing.

Social distancing has been enforced in certain places to contain the virus.

But Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Sunday that extensive social distancing like the one imposed in the entirety of Vietnam in April will not be in place across the country again now, citing a dual goal of stalling the pandemic and ensuring economic growth.

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