15th case of COVID-19 cured, discharged from hospital

The 73-year-old patient (pink shirt) and medical workers pose for a photo when he is discharged from hospital on February 21 afternoon (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The 73-year-old
coronavirus patient of the US nationality was discharged from hospital in Ho
Chi Minh City on February 21 afternoon, becoming the 15th case of COVID-19
successfully cured in Vietnam.

The man was treated at the Hospital for Tropical
Diseases of HCM City in 21 days, and he is also the last case in the
city.

Director of the hospital Nguyen Van Vinh Chau
said the patient was hospitalised in a relatively serious condition on January
31. There were many difficulties during treatment since he is old and his
heart, lung and kidney functions are weak.

Aside from giving treatment, medical workers
paid attention to spiritual care for him, he added.

Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Health
Ministry’s Department for Management of Medical Examination and Treatment,
highly valued efforts by the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases because
this is the oldest patient among the 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Vietnam.
Additionally, no health workers contracted the disease as cross infection was
prevented.

On January 14, the man boarded a flight of China
Southern Airlines from the US to Vietnam. He transited the airport of China’s
Wuhan city, the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic, in two hours the next day.
On January 16, he arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport of HCM City and
stayed at a hotel in Ward 5 of District 3.

He showed the symptom of cough on January 26 and
was admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases on January 31. There, he was
tested positive for the novel .
 
As of February 21 afternoon, 15 of the 16
patients with COVID-19 in Vietnam had been cured and discharged from
hospital./.