The good news came on Monday (February 10) as three out of five patients treated for acute respiratory infections caused by the new strain of coronavirus at the Hanoi-based National Hospital of Tropical Diseases (NHTD) were discharged this afternoon.
Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach, the NHTD’s director, informed that the three patients were from a group of eight workers returning to Vietnam from China’s Wuhan City on the same flight run by China Southern Airlines on January 17. The trio are from Vinh Phuc Province, including a 23-year-old female patient, NTD, in Binh Xuyen District, who infected her mother, sister, aunt and a neighbour.
NTD was among the first in the group found positive for nCoV. The female patient returned home from Wuhan – the centre of the nCoV spread and was back to work on January 18 in Vinh Phuc. She had close contact with family members from January 17 to 27. On January 25, the patient took a taxi with her father to come to the NHTD and subsequently tested positive for nCoV. After 14 days of isolated treatment, her fever had subsided on January 29 and her cough had gone on February 8. The patient went through a throat test for the second and third time on February 1 and 6, respectively and her RT-PCR test results were all negative for nCoV.
Another male patient among the group of workers is TCP, 30, from Vinh Phuc’s Tam Dao District, who also returned from Wuhan on January 17. On January 23, he participated in his company’s party with 13 people. The patient had a fever on January 26, ten days after returning home and a dry cough on January 29. He was admitted to the hospital on February 1 for a PCR test that showed a positive result for nCoV. After 10 days of treatment, the patient fever had gone and two days later, on February 4 his cough had gone too. His second and third throat sample tests on February 6 and February 8 using the RT-PCR technique were negative for nCoV.
The third person discharged from the hospital this afternoon was a female patient, VHL, 29, also from Binh Xuyen District in Vinh Phuc Province. After returning to Vietnam, the patient stayed at home one day and then returned to work for her company. She enjoyed the Lunar New Year holiday at home from January 23, during which she had contact with several family members and relatives. Currently, her family members are being isolated at local medical facilities. VHL did not show any signs of a fever, cough or shortness of breath but had a dry cough on January 27. She was hospitalised on January 31 and tested positive for nCoV later. After 11 days of treatment, the patient stopped coughing on February 6 and no longer had a fever. Her second and third sample tests using the RT-PCR method on February 6 and 8 were negative for nCoV.
Up until now, among the 14 nCoV infection cases recorded, Vietnam has discharged six from hospital. Apart from the three successful treated case this afternoon, a female workers in Thanh Hoa Province (belonging to the group of eight workers returning from Wuhan mentioned above), a female receptionist at a local hotel in Nha Trang City in Khanh Hoa Province, and a male Chinese national (the son among the first two nCoV infection cases detected in Vietnam, whos’ father is still undergoing isolated treatment in Ho Chi Minh City), have been also released.
The remaining nCoV positive patients are being treated at medical centres in Vinh Phuc, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. All are in stable health.
Vinh Phuc has the highest number of new nCoV cases in the country detected so far, with nine among the 14 recorded cases. In addition to five patients from the same group of workers returning from Wuhan on the same flight, the remaining four had close contacts with one of the five patients.
According to the Ministry of Health’s infectious disease surveillance system, up to 3 pm on February 10, the world has recorded 40,620 cases of nCoV infection, of which 40,171 cases and 908 deaths have been recorded in mainland China.
Vietnam has recorded 14 infection cases, six of who were successfully treated and discharged from hospital, while the country has 82 suspected cases under strict isolation and 745 cases that have been confirmed negative for the deadly virus.
