Vietnam reported five imported COVID-19 cases on Sunday, with the country having gone over three weeks without registering a single community-based infection, the Ministry of Health said.

The five new patients are Vietnamese returnees from France. They all hail from Ha Nam Province in northern Vietnam.

The patients arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on board the same flight on Friday.

They were sent to a centralized quarantine center in neighboring Binh Duong Province upon landing.

Their tests for the novel coronavirus returned positive at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

They are being isolated for treatment at a general hospital in Binh Duong.

Vietnam has confirmed a total of 1,074 cases since January 23, when the virus first battered the country, according to the health ministry.

The number of recovered patients has reached 999 as of Sunday night, with 35 virus-related deaths.

Nineteen patients have tested negative for the virus for one to three times and are expected to be discharged from the hospital in the coming days.

The nation has recorded zero local infections for 25 consecutive days.

Vietnam has resumed commercial flights to certain destinations, including Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China.

Entrants from these places are now required to present certificates proving they tested negative for the novel coronavirus within three days of their boarding flights.

The Vietnamese government had suspended international commercial flights since March 25 to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Vietnam began denying entry to foreign nationals on March 22 but the government allows foreign experts, skilled workers, investors, and diplomats to enter the country on a case-by-case basis, subject to mandatory quarantine.

Since then, charter flights to the country have only been arranged to bring in experts, skilled workers, and diplomats, and to repatriate Vietnamese citizens stranded in other nations and territories due to the pandemic.

Vietnam currently charges international arrivals for quarantine. It provided the quarantine service for free in the past.

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