Vietnam announced 11 COVID-19 recoveries, including the country’s oldest patient, on Tuesday morning, taking the number of recovered cases to 232.
The 11 patients include two relapses having retested negative for four times in a row and a person once in a critical condition, according to Suc Khoe & Doi Song Newspaper (Health & Life), which is the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Health.
Relapse cases usually have the virus’ genetic materials in their body, said Nguyen Van Kinh, a senior expert at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.
That explains why they retest positive, Kinh said, adding it does not mean the virus is active.
The critical case is a 88-year-old woman, considered Vietnam’s oldest COVID-19 patient, who was put on a ventilator in an intensive care unit of the hospital.
She has a history of high blood pressure and brain bleeding, leading to the paralysis of half of her body.
The patient was admitted to the hospital on March 25.
She has tested negative for the novel coronavirus for five times.
She is conscious, has stable vital signs, can eat, and will be transferred to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi for treatment for her underlying conditions, according to the health ministry.
Latest coronavirus patients recovered & discharged @ Health & Life Newspaper
All the 11 recovered patients will be monitored for 14 more days, as per the health ministry’s regulations.
Vietnam has confirmed 271 cases so far, with 39 now active and no documented death.
The country’s national committee on COVID-19 prevention and control said on Monday night that a recovered patient had died of end-stage live fibrosis last week.
The steering committee confirmed on Monday night that the 64-year-old man had perished in the northern province of Ha Nam. Vietnam News Agency reported.
The man, known as patient No. 251, first tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on April 7 and was treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi until April 17 when he was discharged.
He tested negative four times before being transferred to Ha Nam General Hospital for continued treatment of his underlying conditions.
The patient was first admitted to his local hospital for treatment for liver cirrhosis, exhaustion and severe gout on March 20.
After the patient died, Ha Nam General Hospital conducted a SARS-CoV-2 test that returned negative. The man also did not have any symptoms of lung damage caused by COVID-19.
The steering committee met earlier today and determined the man had not died due to contracted the coronavirus.
Compiling from Health & Life/Vietnam News/ Tuoi Tre News
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