As the number of Covid-19 cases in Vietnam continues to rise, many patients across the country have also recovered.
According to Hanoi’s National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, Zing reports, 27 coronavirus patients were discharged at 10am today, March 30, after they tested negative for the virus three times. The group consists of 19 Vietnamese nationals and eight foreigners.
In Saigon, three patients at the Cu Chi Field Hospital have also been given a clean bill of health and are expected to be discharged today.
While they have recovered from Covid-19, they will continue to be quarantined for 14 days, with regular temperature checks twice a day.
Among those discharged today is Case 17, a 26-year-old woman living in Truc Bach, Hanoi. She was Hanoi’s first case and became the center of national attention as the first in Vietnam’s second wave of infections. Case 17 was confirmed on March 6, four days after she returned from London after touring Europe.
Her aunt, who lives in the same household and got the virus from Case 17, is still in critical condition and has been on ECMO treatment for some time, though she has shown improvement over the week, according to VnExpress. Two other critical cases, a British man and a Vietnamese man, have also gotten better, with the latter no longer requiring a ventilator.
Last Friday, Da Nang discharged three cases. On Saturday, Hue discharged one case, a 58-year-old British tourist, and Saigon discharged four cases on Sunday, all Vietnamese nationals.
At the time of writing, Vietnam’s total infections had reached 194, including ongoing cases and recoveries. Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital is the country’s most complex coronavirus cluster, with many community transmissions. In Saigon, a Saint Patrick’s Day party at Buddha Bar in District 2 is currently the biggest cluster.
According to the treatment guide released by the Ministry of Health, to be deemed recovered, a Covid-19 patient has to show no sign of fever for three days and test negative twice, with each test taken 24 hours apart from each other. After being discharged, the patient’s body temperature will be checked twice per day during quarantine.
[Photo: Three of Vietnam's first 16 cases on their discharge day. All three returned from Wuhan after a training trip/VOV Giao Thong]
