HANOI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Health confirmed nine new cases of novel coronavirus infection Thursday night, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 85.0

The new cases included an American living in southern Ho Chi Minh City, who has traveled to Thailand and returned to Vietnam on a flight from Turkey, and eight Vietnamese people, including four international students returning from Britain, a man returning from France and three people returning from Britain with transit in Dubai.

There are 122 suspected cases being quarantined while nearly 42,000 others being monitored in Vietnam as of Thursday, according to the health ministry. A total of 16 out of the 85 confirmed cases have been discharged from hospital after recovery.