A man who entered Vietnam illegally from Cambodia on a boat carrying live fish has been confirmed as a COVID-19 patient, while one of his direct contacts has also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The man was identified as 29-year-old T.V.T., who hails from the Mekong Delta province of An Giang but resides in Cambodia, according to a report by local authorities.

T. works for N.V.G., a 33-year-old fisherman in An Giang.

On their typical working day, G. carries his fish on a boat to Khanh An Commune, An Phu District, where he files necessary procedures with local border guards.

T. then travels from Cambodia to the location to take over the boat.

He steers the boat back to Cambodia, where the fish are delivered to local merchants and loaded onto their vehicles. T. wears protective clothing during this process.

After the job is done, T. turns the boat to Vietnam’s An Giang Province, before it is fumigated and handed over to G..

On Thursday, T. hid inside the boat after taking it to the Vietnamese province in order to enter the country unlawfully.

The incident was discovered by G. after he had steered the boat back to his home.

T. then told G. he wanted to visit his wife and child at their house in Phu Huu Commune, An Phu District and borrowed the latter’s motorbike.

On his way home, T. was caught by police in Phu Huu Commune and escorted to the local administration to fill out a health declaration form.

He was later brought to a quarantine center and tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

T. was confirmed by the Ministry of Health and coded patient No. 12,642 on Saturday evening.

G. tested positive for the novel coronavirus later the same day and was confirmed by the health ministry on Sunday afternoon.

Fourteen other direct contacts of T. have tested negative once.

Vietnam has documented 13,117 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday afternoon, with 5,054 recoveries and 64 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has recorded 9,850 local infections in 42 provinces and cities since April 27.

G. is the first community-based case that An Giang Province recorded in this bout.

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