One More Fatality Brings Vietnam’s COVID-19 Death Toll To 18, Total Patient Tally Is Now 883

COVID-19 in Vietnam, update on 13th August

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 death count has risen to 18 this morning after it was reported that a 52-year-old woman from Đà Nẵng had passed away from the disease.

17 new patients have also been recorded since our last update yesterday, including 16 community transmissions and 1 imported case quarantined on arrival. This brings the total patient tally to 883.

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17 new cases since yesterday

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Image credit: Bệnh Viện Chợ Rẫy

The Ministry of Health confirmed 3 new infections in its daily update this morning. One is a 40-year-old woman returning from Saudi Arabia on 9th August and was quarantined on arrival. Another is a 51-year-old man from Hồ Chí Minh City, but whose infection was discovered in Quảng Nam. He reportedly went there on 28th July to take care of his mother who was a patient at the Quảng Nam General Hospital. His mother was later found positive for SARS-CoV-2, and the man also had contact with another COVID-19 patient during his stay.

The other case is an 83-year-old woman from Hội An – Quảng Nam. She was at the Đà Nẵng Hospital – the biggest cluster of this second outbreak – between 9th and 23rd July to treat other unrelated health problems. Her daughter, who also visited the hospital, was confirmed positive for the virus on Tuesday.

14 other cases were announced yesterday evening. 13 of these are recorded in Đà Nẵng, including:

• 3 patients and 1 intern at the Đà Nẵng Hospital.
• 1 woman from Quảng Nam and 3 other people from Đà Nẵng who are family members of previous COVID-19 patients.
• 4 residents of Đà Nẵng and 1 resident of Quảng Nam whose source of infection is still under investigation.

The remaining patient is a 63-year-old man from the northern province of Hải Dương, who tested positive for the virus in Hanoi. We reported yesterday that authorities were tracing people who had had contact with him, and his case was confirmed in the evening.

This is a particularly worrying case as the man said he didn’t visit any areas with high infection risks nor have contact with any previous patients. This raises concerns of an unknown infection source in northern Vietnam.

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1 new death this morning

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Doctors connecting an ECMO machine to a patient in critical condition at the Đà Nẵng Lung Hospital
Image credit: Bệnh Viện Chợ Rẫy

The latest COVID-19-related fatality in Vietnam was also confirmed this morning to be a 52-year-old woman from Đà Nẵng. Her cause of death was identified as pneumonia caused by COVID-19, type 2 diabetes, and final stage renal failure, the Ministry of Health said.

With this new development, Vietnam’s COVID-19 death toll is currently sitting at 18. 15 were registered in Đà Nẵng, 2 were from the adjacent province of Quảng Nam, and 1 in Quảng Trị. The deceased were aged between 33 and 86, and unfortunately, all had suffered from other serious health problems before being diagnosed with COVID-19.

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Đà Nẵng is sending stranded tourists home

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Passengers before boarding the flight from Đà Nẵng to Hanoi yesterday
Image credit: Danang Fantasticity

Yesterday, two government-facilitated flights from Đà Nẵng landed in Hanoi, sending home 400 tourists who had been stranded in the city since it suspended all public transportation in late July. 5 more flights are scheduled for today and tomorrow, including 2 to Hanoi and 3 to Hồ Chí Minh City, to bring back 1,000 other stranded tourists.

To minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection, all the flights are disinfected before takeoff and after landing, and cabin crews as well as passengers are equipped with full-body protective gear. The returnees are also required to serve a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival.

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 situation, update on 13th August

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While the majority of the new COVID-19 cases reported in the past few weeks are contained within Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam, the discovery of a case with an unclear infection source in Hanoi shows that the risk is still present in other provinces.  As a result, do stay on high alert and practice precautionary measures.

For more stories, check out:

• Hanoi contact tracing a new case with unknown infection source
• Đà Nẵng charity kitchen provides food to quarantine facilities
• Đà Nẵng residents support each other with free food and face masks
• Đà Nẵng builds makeshift hospital to fight COVID-19
• Hanoi raises pandemic alert level
• 10 things visitors in Vietnam need to know during COVID-19

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Cover image adapted from Bệnh Viện Chợ Rẫy and Danang Fantasticity

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