A bank in Vietnam on Monday announced that it would close an office in Ho Chi Minh City as a COVID-19 patient had visited it.

The Vietnam Export Import Bank (Eximbank)'s transaction office will be shuttered for 14 days from Monday, the lender said in a notice.

The office is located at 373 Su Van Hanh Street, Ward 12, District 10.

This is the first bank in Vietnam to have closed down an office over coronavirus patients’ visits.

The People’s Committee of Ward 12 on Saturday asked that the bank shut down the office as a customer who had visited the venue and come into contact with the staff there had been confirmed to have COVID-19, Eximbank said, without specifying the date of the visit.

The shutdown is in line with Vietnam’s regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control, the bank said.

Eximbank added it had disinfected the office and informed customers of a replacement venue for transactions.

The staff involved have been quarantined or self-isolated at home.

Established on May 24, 1989, Eximbank is one of the largest lenders in terms of owner’s equity among the commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam, according to its website.

The patient in question, 57-year-old P.T., lives in Ward 12, District 10, according to data obtained by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

T. took care of relatives at Hoan My Da Nang Hospital and Da Nang Hospital from July 1 to 20.

The patient returned to Ho Chi Minh City on a flight on July 25.

At least 174 locally-transmitted cases have been traced to Da Nang, many linked to the city's hospitals, since July 25, after 99 days of no documented community transmission of the virus in Vietnam.

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

The Southeast Asian country has reported 621 cases as of Monday afternoon, with 373 recoveries and six deaths.

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