Domestic donors purchase 2,000 ventilators to support COVID-19 treatment

On March 31, the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association’s District 1 Branch said that the agency is proposing that the Prime Minister facilitate procedures to receive the ventilators to serve the fight against COVID-19. The association has actively worked with Metran to order 2,000 ventilators with the main sponsorship from Van Thinh Phat Group and Van Lang University.

The two main sponsors through the District 1 Business Association signed a contract with Metran and paid 100% of the value of 2,000 ventilators, which are expected to be donated to the Vietnamese Government for emergency needs in the fight against COVID-19.

It also said that, if approved by the Government, the ventilators are expected to be delivered by the end of May 2020.

Metran was founded by Vietnamese-born scientist Tran Ngoc Phuc, who is also its Chairman of the Board of Directors, an enterprise specialising in the production of ventilators in Japan and around the world.

Within the past two months, Phuc and his colleagues have actively exchanged and worked with the District 1 Business Association and the two sponsors to find solutions to ensure the production of the 2,000 ventilators to donate to the Government of Vietnam.

* On the evening of March 31, Hanoi Municipal People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung issued a directive on the implementation of a range of urgent measures to prevent and control COVID-19.

A local declares her health information before being tested at a field test station in Dong Da District, Hanoi, March 31, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Viet Anh)

The Hanoi authorities require all local people to voluntarily abide by an order made earlier on the same day by the Prime Minister on nationwide social distancing measures for 15 days, starting from April 1, in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Hanoi leaders also requested that its Department of Health coordinate with the City Police Department and local authorities to muster all resources with all solutions to thoroughly handle the "outbreak" at Bach Mai Hospital, as well as to organise quick testing stations at a number of major gateways in and out of the capital city.

* At 13:30 on March 31, budget carrier VietJet’s flight VJ933 landed at Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province, carrying 195 Vietnamese passengers returning from Japan. After the passengers completed their entry procedures, the local authorities sent them to concentrated isolation facilities according to the approved plan of the Quang Ninh authorities.

Medical examination for returnees from Japan. (Photo: NDO/Quang Tho)

* The same day, Binh Thuan Province General Hospital informed that seven of the nine COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment there have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 twice. On April 1, the hospital will take samples to test the patients again and if they continue to show negative results for a third time, the hospital will report to the concerned authorities for consideration of discharge.

* The Vietnam - German Centre of Excellence in Medical Research (VG-CARE) in Hanoi has provided 6,000 patient sampling tubes for a clinical COVID-19 drug study project in Germany. On April 1, the University of Tubingen (Germany) in collaboration with Universities of Hamburg and Stuttgart launched a clinical trial of coronavirus medication. To conduct research, scientists need sample tubes. However, at this time in Germany there is not enough tubes to meet the requirements. Therefore, VG-CARE has provided the tools for the research.

Around 6,000 sample tubes have arrived at Tubingen (Photo: Institute of Tropical Medicine/University of Tubingen)

* On March 31, two more COVID-19 patients were declared to have recovered. They are both foreigners, including the 49th patient, 71, a British national treated at Hue Central Hospital, and the 54th patient, 33, Latvian, treated at Can Gio Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Both will continue to be isolated and monitored for the next 14 days.

* As of 6 am on April 1, the total number of COVID-19 cases has climbed to 212 after five more patients were confirmed, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. To date, 58 of the confirmed cases have recovered and were discharged.