58-61st COVID-19 patients diagnosed in Vietnam

21 patients were directly and indirectly infected with COVID-19 on flight VN54 (March 2). Source: Vnexpress

The 58th patient is a 26-year-old woman living on Yen The Street, Dien Bien ward, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi. She is a student in France who arrived at Noi Bai International Airport yesterday (March 15). She tested positive for COVID-19 and has been quarantined and is undergoing treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases 2 (Dong Anh district).

Patient 59 is a 30-year-old woman living in Bo De ward, Long Bien district, Hanoi. She was a flight attendant on the flight departing from the UK to Vietnam on March 2. Many passengers travelling on this flight were diagnosed positive for COVID-19. She had contracted a cough and fever several days ago and subsequently tested positive yesterday (March 15).

The 60th is a 29-year-old Frenchman. He departed from Paris and arrived at Noi Bai International Airport on March 9 on a flight where several passengers were diagnosed with the epidemic. He travelled across numerous sightseeing spots in Hanoi and Ninh Binh province, returned to Hanoi on March 15, and has been quarantined.

These three patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus and are being isolated and undergoing treatment at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases 2 in Dong Anh district.

The 61st is a 42-year-old man living in Ninh Thuan province. This Vietnamese man travelled to Malaysia from February 27 and returned to Vietnam on March 4 on flight VJ826 landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. On March 10, he started having a sore throat and fever but did not take any medicine. He went to Ninh Thuan general hospital to test and his test has just been confirmed as positive for COVID-19.

As a result, the COVID-19 epidemic has already spread to 13 provinces and cities, including Hanoi (14 patients), Vinh Phuc (11 patients, all cured last month), Binh Thuan (9), Ho Chi Minh City (8 patients, three cured last month), and Quang Ninh (5), with the remaining spread loosely across the country.

As of the end of March 16, as many as 61 patients have been infected by COVID-19 in Vietnam, 43 of whom are undergoing treatment and 16 were cured last month. Among these new patients, 17 are foreigners coming from Europe and the US, in addition to only one from South Korea. Besides, some patients are Vietnamese students returning from epidemic-stricken European countries.

Among these patients undergoing treatment, four tested negative for COVID-19 for the first time. However, the health of two patients, a 69-year-old British man and a 64-year-old Vietnamese woman is deteriorating and they are experiencing breathing difficulties.