Vietnam’s Coronavirus cases surpass 200

Nine people were confirmed positive for coronavirus Monday night, eight of whom related to Hanoi’s Bach Mai hospital, raising the national count to 203.

Of the eight, one is a patient at the Bach Mai Hospital, while seven are employees of the Truong Sinh Company, which provides food and logistic services to the hospital, one of the country’s largest.

Patients 195 to 202, aged 41, 34, 53, 57, 61 and 23, are female employees of Truong Sinh.

“Patient 197”, a 41-year-old man, resides in Thanh Oai District, Hanoi. He came to Bach Mai for a health check on March 12 and had his samples taken on March 29 which showed him positive for the virus.

All the eight patients are under treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases with stable health condition.

“Patient 203” is a 35-year-old Vietnamese woman who boarded flight TK162 on seat 21A from Greece after transiting in Turkey to the Tan Son Nhat airport in HCMC on March 17.

She was asymptomatic and sent to a quarantine facility in Nha Be District in HCMC upon arrival. Her positive results were confirmed on March 27 by the city’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Vietnam has recorded 203 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of these 33 are associated with the Bach Mai Hospital in Dong Da District. The hospital is now one of the largest sources of Covid-19 infection in the country.

On Saturday night, the Vietnamese Army’s chemical division disinfected the hospital after several Covid-19 infections were linked to it. Earlier that day, the hospital had suspended admitting new patients and was isolated. 

Nguyen Quang Tuan, director of the isolated hospital, said Monday there is not enough food and necessities for around 3,500 people trapped inside. They include patients, doctors, nurses and other staff.

With Monday morning’s discharge, Vietnam’s total number of Covid-19 patients released from hospitals has jumped to 52.

Many of the currently active cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from Europe and the U.S., foreigners coming from the same regions and those who’d come into contact with both groups of people.

Reporting by Le Nga @ VNExpress