Vietnam confirms 1st death of COVID-19 patient

Vietnam's Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday that a 70-year-old Vietnamese man died of COVID-19, which is the country's first death from the disease, reported Xinhua, quoting Vietnam News Agency.

The patient, with a history of heart failure and pneumonia, tested positive for COVID-19 on July 26 and died in the early morning on Friday, according to the news agency.

Earlier on July 9, the patient from Vietnam's central city of Hoi An was admitted to Da Nang Hospital with a diagnosis of end-stage kidney disease in the central city of Da Nang, which later turned out to be the country's largest epidemic hotspot, the news agency reported.

After going through over three months without any community COVID-19 cases, Vietnam has reported a number of infections in the community since July 25, many of which are reportedly related to hospitals in Da Nang with the source of transmission yet to be confirmed.

The country has reported 509 cases of COVID-19 in total as of Friday morning, according to the country's health ministry.