Vietnam’s Ministry of Health announced one imported COVID-19 case on Monday evening, taking the national tally to 1,515 patients.

The latest patient is a 57-year-old Polish expert, the health ministry said.

He landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on board flight QR970 from Qatar on Saturday.

The expert was quarantined upon entry and sampled for COVID-19 testing in the city.

His test returned positive for the novel coronavirus at the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control on Sunday.

He is being isolated for treatment at a makeshift hospital in the city’s Cu Chi District.

Vietnam has reported 1,515 coronavirus cases as of Monday evening, with 1,361 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has not detected any domestically transmitted infection since December 2.

The Vietnamese government allows entry to skilled workers, experts, diplomats, and Vietnamese repatriates, who are all subject to mandatory quarantine upon arrival, although it still closes the border to international arrivals to stall coronavirus transmission.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc demanded on Monday that authorities limit to the maximal extent the number of flights bringing people into the country from now until the Lunar New Year festival, which is due around mid-February, given the emergence of new coronavirus variants around the world.

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