The ministry instructed police to coordinate with other agencies to bolster controls at land, air and sea ports, the VGP News reported.

The Civil Aviation Administration ordered Vietnamese airlines to suspend all flights to virus-affected areas and toughen checks and license requirements for flights coming from them.

Vietnam is one of the countries where the potentially deadly coronavirus has spread after it emerged at a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan last month. It has since been detected in all Chinese provinces, with a total number of cases approaching 8,000.