Vietnam logged three domestic infections on Friday morning, all linked to a man who had returned from Japan and tested positive after finishing centralized quarantine.

Two of the new patients were logged in Hung Yen Province and one in Hanoi, the Ministry of Health said in a report the same morning, when the country starts celebrating Reunification Day.

The case in the capital city had come into direct contact with a 28-year-old man, coded patient No. 2,899, at a party in Ha Nam Province.

One of the two patients, a two-year-old girl, in Hung Yen had also been exposed to patient No. 2,899.

The other case is the girl’s grandmother, who frequently had direct contact with her.

Patient No. 2,899 was confirmed on Thursday, at a time when Vietnam had gone 33 days without any community transmission.

He landed in Da Nang on board flight VJ3613 from Japan on April 7 and was sent to centralized quarantine upon entry.

The patient finished his quarantine on April 21 after having tested negative for the novel coronavirus three times.

He left Da Nang on April 21 and came home in Ha Nam on April 22.

Two days later, he coughed, ran a fever, and had a sore throat before testing positive for the first time in the province on Wednesday.

His retest returned positive in Hanoi one day later.

His parents, wife, and daughter were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Thursday.

Another man who lives in Ho Chi Minh City and had come into close contact with him was also confirmed as a coronavirus case the same day.

Vietnam has registered 2,914 COVID-19 patients, including 1,580 locally-transmitted cases, since the pathogen first struck the nation on January 23, 2020, according to the health ministry’s data.

Recoveries have hit 2,516 while 35 patients have died, most having suffered critical pre-existing conditions.

The Southeast Asian country has administered the first shot of AstraZeneca vaccine to more than 504,000 people, including over 78,400 on Thursday, since it rolled out mass immunization on March 8.

Those inoculated were medical staff and other frontline workers.

On Friday, Vietnamese begin celebrating Reunification Day and International Workers’ Day (May 1) in a long holiday weekend that will stretch through Monday.

People from urban regions are coming back in droves to their hometowns as always, despite COVID-19 risks.

Health authorities have warned of a possible fourth wave of infections in Vietnam as the virus is taking a toll on its neighbors Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

The third outbreak started blindsiding Vietnam in January this year, with nearly 1,000 local cases confirmed.

The remainder hit the nation last year.

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