Vietnam records no new infection in 36 hours, tally remains at 268

Total infection in Vietnam remained at 268 as of 6pm Friday.

Earlier, the ministry announced 21 recovered patients, raising the total number of people recovering from the illness to 198. All of the recovered patients will be medically monitored for the next 14 days as regulated.

Half of the patients entered Vietnam from abroad, mostly students and 10 people got the disease from community transmission.

So far, 74% of people tested with the virus in Vietnam have completely recovered.

The number of new patients has been falling since the government adopted a nationwide social distancing campaign two weeks ago.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approval a proposal to extend the social distancing campaign in for at least one week in some high-risk and risky localities.

He asked for immediate implementation of the social security package of up to VND62 trillion (roughly $2.66 billion) to support people directly affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.

► Vietnam deploys effective measures to contain well coronavirus

► Vietnam extends social distancing campaign for 1-2 weeks in 12 localities