They then traveled to HCM City by boat and road. One boarded flight VJ458 to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi and continued to Hai Phong by a private car.

The Health Ministry is asking all passengers who took flight VJ458 from Phu Quoc in Kien Giang province to Noi Bai Airport on March 22, contact health authorities. They must declare any close contacts they have had to the Ministry's hotline or the centre for disease control and prevention in Kien Giang or Hanoi.

The new cases end a streak of 42 COVID free days for HCMC and 34 for Hai Phong. Vietnam has recorded 2,581 COVID-19 cases, including more than 1,600 community transmissions.

So far, more than 42,000 people in Vietnam have been vaccinated.