Vietnam on Monday reported 12 additional Zika patients, increasing the total in the country to 23.

All the new cases are from Ho Chi Minh City, lifting the total in the city to 17, the municipal Health Department said, adding that people can now go to 30 hospitals in the city to have their blood tested for Zika virus free of charge.

Other patients are from Binh Duong, Long An and Tra Vinh Provinces in the Mekong Delta, and Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen in the central region.

On Sunday, the Vietnam‘s health ministry linked the first case of microcephaly to Zika, a four-month-old girl in Dak Lak. Her mother reportedly contracted the virus during the pregnancy.

Health officials said people, either men or women, should avoid mosquito bites and travelling to places with Zika epidemic if they plan to have children.

– with other agencies