All those having direct and indirect contact with four latest local coronavirus cases in Ho Chi Minh City have tested negative for the pathogen, the municipal Center for Disease Control said in a report on Monday.

A total of 861 direct contacts and 1,400 indirect ones were tested and not a single result returned positive for COVID-19, the center elaborated.

Those people had been exposed to patients 1,342, 1,347, 1,348, and 1,349, who were registered on November 29, November 30, and December 1, after Vietnam had spent nearly three months detecting no community transmission.

Patient 1,342 is a Vietnam Airlines flight attendant who flouted quarantine rules to allegedly transmit the virus to patient 1,347, who in turn infected the remainder.

Over 1,000 other people who had their health monitored in relation to these cases were also negative for the virus, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control said in the same report.

The city is quarantining 5,436 people either at home, centralized centers, or other accommodations.

The municipal Center for Disease Control advises that people don face masks in public, frequently sanitize hands, keep a distance in social interaction, avoid large crowds, and declare health conditions in order to prevent COVID-19 infection.

Local authorities have been beefing up their crackdown on anyone failing to wear face masks in public, with fines reaching VND1-3 million (US$43-129).

Vietnam has logged 1,366 coronavirus cases as of Monday morning, with 1,220 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

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