Five more coronavirus infections, including three related to Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital and two cases are those returning from abroad were confirmed Saturday evening, raising the country’s tally to 174.
“Case 170th” is a 27-year-old man living in Kim Son District in the northern province of Ninh Binh.
In early March, he made a plaster ceiling at a new urban area in Hanoi’s Gia Lam District. He had direct contacts with four people and a supervisor who looks after the construction. At that time the man was healthy and had no symptoms of cough and fever. On March 14-15, he went home as his father was ill. He stayed at home and did not go out at this time. On March 20, he and his two uncles hired a car to bring his father from Ninh Binh’s General Hospital to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.
Around 12 a.m. the same day, his father was sent to the emergency department of the hospital. The man and his father stayed in the area for one hour and a half to two hours. Then, his father was transferred to the gastroenterology department on the third floor.
From March 20-22, he came to buy rice five times at the counter No.1 of the Bach Mai Hospital’s canteen. On March 22, he took a motorbike taxi from the hospital to Giap Bat bus station. He got on the bus at 9:30 a.m. and arrived home at noon.
In the evening of the same day, the man had a fever of 38.5 degrees Celcius, and was taken by his wife to Kim Son District’s General Hospital on March 23 evening. He tested positive for novel coronavirus for the first time on March 25 and the result was confirmed on Saturday.
“Case 171st”, a resident of District 10 in Ho Chi Minh City, is an overseas student in the U.S. She flew to Vietnam and transited in the Philippines before landing at Tan Son Nhat Airport on March 13. Upon arrival at the airport, she had no symptoms of coronavirus infections and was asked to be quarantined at home.
“Case 172nd” was a daughter-in-law of a 66-year-old woman from Lai Chau Province in northern Vietnam, who was confirmed positive on March 24 after staying for three weeks for heart treatment at the Bach Mai Hospital. She took care of her mother-in-law for 23 days and currently has no cough, fever and shortness of breath.
“Case 173rd” is a woman living and working in Russia’s Moscow and returned home on March 2. She was transferred to an isolation area at FPT University in Thach That District, Hanoi. After showing symptoms of high fever, cough and body aches, she was hospitalized.
“Case 174th” works at a cafeteria of the Bach Mai Hospital, having contact with many people. For two days now, the patient developed high fever and had cough with white sputum but did not have runny nose and body aches.
So far, 11 infection cases have been linked with the Bach Mai Hospital, one of Vietnam’s largest. The hospital has suspended admitting new patients and is isolated as of Saturday while nearly 5,000 staff and patients at Bach Mai were ordered to take Covid-19 tests.
Of Vietnam’s 174 confirmed Covid-19 cases so far, 21 have been discharged after treatment, including three in Da Nang on Friday and a British man in Hue on Saturday morning.
Many of the currently active cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from Europe and the U.S. and foreigners coming from the same regions.
Starting March 22, Vietnam has suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers and halted all international flights from March 25.
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 27,200 people in 199 countries and territories.
Reporting by Le Nga @ VNExpress
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