HANOI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's northern province of Vinh Phuc, which reported 11 out of the 16 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection in the country, on Wednesday lifted a 20-day lockdown on one of its communes that had reported a cluster outbreak, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The lockdown took effect on Son Loi commune in Binh Xuyen district of Vinh Phuc, a province of about 1.15 million people located some 60 km from Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi, from Feb. 13, after which Vietnam has confirmed no new case of infection.

The lockdown restricting all travels into and out of Son Loi commune, with about 10,000 people, was launched after several residents in the commune had close contacts with a female returning home from China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and were confirmed to have contracted the virus, according to the news agency.

Despite the lift of lockdown, groups of doctors and medical workers will still be maintained in Binh Xuyen district to keep abreast of the situation and deal with recurrence if needed, considering of the new developments of the outbreak globally, the news agency cited a provincial official as saying, adding that information campaigns would be stepped up to communicate to the public on proper prevention measures like practicing respiratory and hand hygiene.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 16 cases of novel coronavirus infection, all of whom have been cured and discharged from hospitals, according to its health ministry.