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A total of 952 foreign experts in Ho Chi Minh City tested negative for the novel coronavirus after their samples were retested as part of a mass screening campaign.

Among them were 200 Japanese experts who had entered HCMC since Jan. 1 and are currently working in the city, according to Vnexpress.

Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee asked relevant agencies to re-test all foreign experts who entered the city without mentioning a cutoff arrival date.

The committee assigned the health sector to coordinate with the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs to organize the re-testing of "foreign experts who entered to work in the city."

A worker from Gia Lai has her sample taken by a medic in HCMC on February 19, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

The re-testing has been initiated after the death of "Patient 2229", a 54-year-old Japanese expert working for Mitsui Vietnam Co. Ltd.

He arrived on Jan. 17 at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and was quarantined in Ward 2, Tan Binh District from Jan. 17 to 31, during which he tested negative twice for the novel coronavirus.

He later took a flight to Hanoi and underwent self-quarantine at Somerset West Point since 2 p.m., Feb. 1. From February 1 to 13, he went to work at the company’s branch in Hanoi and returned to the serviced apartment building every day.

Around 7 p.m. on Feb. 13, he was found dead in his Somerset West Point room. He tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but the cause of his death has yet to be confirmed.

After gene sequencing, the Health Ministry announced the deceased Japanese was infected with a new virus strain, known as CAL.20C, that had never been reported in Vietnam.

A medical staff takes a sample of a resident in HCMC for Covid-19 testing, February 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Le Cam.

The strain originated from a group of viruses tracked from Europe to New York early in the pandemic and was first detected in California during July. The virus strain has been spreading fast in many U.S. states and has mainly surfaced in South Korea, Taiwan, and India.

Under current regulations, foreigners entering HCMC are quarantined for 14 days and tested at least twice during the period.

Vietnam has suspended all inbound international commercial flights since March 2020, though the government has been operating repatriation flights to bring home Vietnamese citizens stuck abroad amid the pandemic, and has allowed special flights to carry foreign experts and investors to the country.

In the country's latest outbreak that began on Jan. 28 after a 55-day clean streak, HCMC has recorded 36 Covid-19 cases, of which 35 are related to the Tan Son Nhat airport and one with coronavirus hotspot Hai Duong Province.

The city has not recorded any community transmission for the past three weeks, with most non-essential services allowed to resume March 1, excluding karaoke parlors, dance clubs, bars, and gyms.

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