A doctor at Cu Chi Field Hospital for novel coronavirus patients and suspects in Ho Chi Minh City, February 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

The woman, who lives in London, flew to Saigon in a private jet Monday and has been placed under treatment at HCMC Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

The unnamed woman, Vietnam’s 32nd Covid-19 infection, had met Nguyen Hong Nhung in London on February 27. Nhung is the 26-year-old Hanoian who became the capital city’s first Covid-19 patient last Friday.

On March 2, the unnamed woman developed a cough, but didn’t have a fever. She was admitted to a hospital in London for treatment. On March 7, she started coughing a lot, but still had no fever. After hearing about Nhung being infected with the novel coronavirus, she returned to the hospital and informed doctors about her contact history. The London hospital required her to be isolated at home but no Covid-19 test was done.

The woman’s family then rented a private plane to fly her from London to Vietnam. The plane landed at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 8:15 a.m. Monday. Health authorities in Ho Chi Minh City quarantined her at the Cu Chi field hospital and took her samples for testing. The tests came back positive the same day.

She still has a high fever and a severe cough, but suffers no breathing difficulty.

Vietnam now has 16 active Covid-19 infections, including the latest case.

Nhung had flown to Hanoi from London on Vietnam Airlines flight VN54, in the business class, on March 2. There were 201 passengers on the flight, including 21 in the business class.

Eleven people on the same flight, 10 of them foreigners, have tested Covid-19 positive.

Nhung's personal chauffeur and an aunt have also been infected.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 113 countries and territories around the world, killing over 4,000.