Vietnam on March 24 evening reported 11 more cases who tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, bringing the total in the country to 134.

Among the 11 more cases, there are three who have visited Bar Buddha in Ho Chi Minh City and a Vietnamese who worked as a waiter at the bar which is a major source of the virus.

Two others are Vietnamese students in the UK who arrived at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport on March 20 on Flight VN0054, and the remaining three are Vietnamese tourists who came back from Spain and transited through Russia on Flight SU SU290 to Noi Bai airport on March 22.

The 133rd patient is a 66-year-old female resident of the northwestern province of Lai Chau. She had a medical treatment at Hanoi’s Bach Mai hospital this month and came back to her home town on March 22. On March 23, her sample tested positive to the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, and she is now being quarantined in the province in stable health conditions.
 
The 134th is a 10-year-old resident of Hanoi’s outlying district of Thach That. The boy came back from a foreign country to the city’s Noi Bai airport on March 18 on Flight SU290. His sample tested positive to the virus on March 23, and he is now quarantined in the central province of Thanh Hoa in stable health conditions.

All of them are now under quarantine.

Health ministry announces seven more flights with COVID-19 cases

An area for measuring body temperature at the Noi Bai international airport

The Ministry of Health issued an urgent notice on March 25 morning on seven flights landing in Vietnam with passengers testing positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

They included three flights on March 15 which are Emirates’ EK364 from Dubai to Ho Chi Minh City, Aeroflot’s SU290 from Moscow to Hanoi, and Thai Airways’ TG560 from Bangkok to Hanoi.

Also in the list are Royal Brunei Airlines’ BI381 from Brunei to HCM City on March 17; Emirates’ EK392 from Dubai to HCM City and All Nippon Airways’ NH831 from Japan to HCM City both on March 19; and Japan Airlines’ JL751 from Tokyo to Hanoi on March 20.

The ministry called on all passengers on the above mentioned flights to contact disease control centres of cities and provinces for guidance on health monitoring.

Airline ticket agents are responsible for notifying the passengers who bought tickets for those flights.

As of late March 24, Vietnam recorded 134 COVID-19 cases, of which 17 have fully recovered.

Embassy helps stranded Vietnamese in Thailand fly home

Vietnamese passengers stranded in Thailand

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand on March 24 assisted 16 Vietnamese citizens to return home as all airlines are cancelling commercial flights from Bangkok to Vietnam in the light of COVID-19.

According to the embassy, as of March 24 afternoon, many Vietnamese, mostly students, tourists and labourers, had been stranded at Bangkok-based Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

The embassy closely coordinated with relevant domestic agencies like the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, and Thailand’s national flag carrier Thai Airways in bringing the passengers home.

On March 20, the embassy also joined hands with the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and Thai Airways to bring nearly 30 other Vietnamese citizens, mostly from Europe, back to their home country.

Thailand on March 24 reported 106 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total there to 827, including four deaths. The number of new cases in Thailand has remained in the three-digit zone for three consecutive days.

The same day, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his government will declare an emergency and introduce new measures to combat the COVID-19 epidemic on Mar 26. The emergency situation will be in place through April 30. 

Treatment for COVID-19 patients at national hospital reviewed

A staff member at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi checks passengers' body temperature via a thermal scanner

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son had a working session with the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases (NHTD) on March 24 to look into the treatment for COVID-19 cases, especially serious ones.

NHTD Director Pham Ngoc Thach said his hospital is giving treatment to 46 COVID-19 patients, including 34 Vietnamese and 12 foreigners.

In the first phase, the hospital mainly cared for young patients. Now, patients have increased and they belong to various age groups, including old patients with other illnesses like hypertension, immunodeficiency and diabetes.

Notably, its intensive care department is tending to three severe cases, comprising a 64-year-old Vietnamese woman, a 50-year-old Vietnamese man and a 69-year-old British man, Thach said.

Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Health Ministry’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, said as the NHTD handles serious cases, it needs to review its operating procedures and equipment and report the situation to the ministry to seek solutions if necessary.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Son highly valued efforts by all the staff of the hospital and at the same time also asked it to further prevent cross infection after a doctor at the emergency department contracted SARS-CoV-2.

He also told the NHTD to better care for its staff’s spiritual life so that they won’t be overloaded. Besides, it needs to build more response plans in case the number of patients surges.

Severe cases will receive treatment at higher-level hospitals, including the NHTD, while mild ones will be moved to others, according to the official.

As of March 24 morning, Vietnam had recorded 123 COVID-19 cases, 17 of whom have recovered.

Hanoi leader lauds rapid hospital construction in response to COVID-19

The old hospital has been turned into a 250-bed facility serving the treatment of COVID-19 patients within only one week. (Photo: anninhthudo.vn)

Secretary of the Hanoi People’s Committee Vuong Dinh Hue on March 24 applauded joint efforts in upgrading an abandoned hospital to treat COVID-19 patients.

Located in Hanoi’s outskirts district of Me Linh, the hospital had been left unused for many years, without electricity and water. It has been turned into a 250-bed facility serving the treatment of COVID-19 patients within only one week.

Speaking at a meeting with business representatives in the city, Hue urged construction companies to promptly join hands in building quarantine facilities and hospitals for acute respiratory diseases when necessary.

According to Nguyen Van Luyen, General Director of Urban Infrastructure Development Investment Corporation (UIDC), the corporation mobilised up to 400 workers for the construction.

Hanoi plans to allocate 1,000 hospital beds for treating COVID-19 patients as well as suspected cases.

In order to prepare for the quarantine of tens of thousands of Vietnamese people returning to the country, the capital city has set up 12 quarantine centres.