A young Vietnamese man has tested positive for COVID-19 after departing for Japan from Hanoi last month, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control.

Nguyen Van D., 23, left the Vietnamese capital on board flight NH898 on September 30, Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the center, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.

A quick test at Narita International Airport in Tokyo then showed that D. was positive for the novel coronavirus, Tuan added.

His center is still waiting for the results of other tests on the man using the real-time PCR technique, he said.

Vietnamese health workers have already started monitoring nine of D.’s family members, taking samples from them, and fumigating their neighborhood.  

D. had had no contact with infected patients and never been to virus-stricken regions before leaving for Japan.

Vietnam has recorded zero domestic COVID-19 cases since September 3.

D. is the 11th case that has had a positive quick test result after leaving Hanoi for Japan, South Korea, and France since August, according to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control.

The previous ten people later retested negative for the virus with the real-time PCR method, which is now used widely to confirm a COVID-19 infection.

As of Monday afternoon, Vietnam has documented 1,096 coronavirus cases, with 1,020 recoveries and 35 virus-related fatalities, the Ministry of Health said.

A new wave of infections battered the country on July 25, when touristy Da Nang logged the first community transmission after 99 days of zero domestic cases nationwide.

A total of 551 local cases were then recorded across Vietnam in the following weeks, the majority linked to Da Nang.

The nation spent over a month tracing contacts and managing to suppress the outbreak afterward.

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.

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

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