Vietnam hits 911 COVID-19 cases with 21 deaths

A 61-year-old woman has become the 21st Covid-19 fatality in Vietnam as the country recorded six more locally transmitted cases on Friday morning.

The dead patient is a resident in Hoa Vang District of central Da Nang City, the epicenter.

She died of pneumonia caused by Covid-19, septic shock, multiple organ damage caused by type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

With her, 21 Covid-19 patients have died in Vietnam since July 31. All had suffered various chronic diseases, with renal failure the most common. The youngest one is 33 and the oldest 86.

Among the six added patients, three are from the northern Hai Duong and Thai Binh provinces, and the others are in Quang Nam Province that borders Da Nang.

“Patient 906” is a 72-year-old woman and “patient 907” a 17-year-old man in Hai Duong while “patient 908” is a 59-year-old woman from Thai Binh. All three work at the same place in Hai Duong and had contact with a man that was later diagnosed with Covid-19.

The three cases in Quang Nam, numbered from 909 to 911 are all family members of a woman that has been confirmed as infected.

“Patient 909,” 38, is daughter of that woman, “patient 910” is her six-year-old grandson while “patient 911,” 79, is her husband.

With the latest updates, Vietnam’s Covid-19 count now stays at 911, including 465 active cases and 425 recoveries.

Since July 25 when community transmissions returned to Vietnam after three months, 444 of such cases have been recorded at 15 cities and provinces, including Hanoi and HCMC. Da Nang alone has 310 cases.

All locally transmitted infections so far, except for the Hai Duong cases whose source are yet to be identified, are linked to Da Nang.

For now, more than 172,000 that had either returned from abroad or come into close contact with infected cases are in quarantine.

The global pandemic fatalities have climbed to more than 752,500 after more than 21 million have been infected.

By Le Nga @ VNExpress