Experts from the Ministry of Health check disease prevention and control at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases. (Photo: VNA/VNS)

Two Chinese people from Wuhan City who were in Việt Nam were tested negative to the virus. They were discharged from hospital and returned to their country, the department said. The ministry will continue to closely supervise the disease at border gates, hospitals and in the community to get ready for treatment and management.

According to the WHO, cases of acute pneumonia caused by the new virus were reported in Wuhan City of China’s Hubei Province. As of late Sunday, 198 cases in total had been reported in Wuhan, including three deaths. Two other cases have been detected in Thailand and Japan with health authorities in both countries saying the patients had visited Wuhan prior to their hospitalisation.

The new corona virus strain has caused alarm because of its connection to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-03.