Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long at an urgen meeting this afternoon.

The female patient is 42 years old, from Son Loi Commune, Bình Xuyen District in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

She has been isolated at the district’s medical centre and is in a stable condition, according to local authorities.

She was among people who had close contact with the male patient who tested positive for the virus earlier in Vinh Phuc.

She said she visited the male patient’s house for the Lunar New Year holiday on January 22 and 28.

She got a slight fever on January 31 and came to the local clinic for a check-up. She was then sent to the district’s medical centre for treatment and isolation while samples were sent to the National Institute of Hygiene Epidemiology for testing.

The male patient was among eight people who returned from Wuhan in China on the same flight. Four of them were infected with the virus.

Eight Vietnamese people were sent to Wuhan City for training by Nihon Plast Co Ltd of Japan and returned to Vietnam on China Southern Airlines fight CZ8315 on January 17.

One of the patients has now been released after doctors confirmed she was free of the virus.

Vietnam has so far reported 304 suspected cases of coronavirus, 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine while samples undergo testing.

As of Monday night, 50 provinces and cities out of 63 in the country have announced days off for students, with 30 allowing up to one week off (February 2-9), at least for the time being.