Vietnam Goes 4 Full Days Without New COVID-19 Cases Confirmed

COVID-19 in Vietnam, update on 20th April 2020

Vietnam is on a winning streak in the fight against COVID-19, going 4 full days without a confirmed new case. This is the longest COVID-free period we’ve enjoyed in over a month since early March.

The good news doesn’t end there either. Since our last update, 26 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. But it is still not yet time to drop our guard, as a second post-discharge relapse has been spotted.

With the latest numbers, Vietnam currently has 66 active cases, with the recovery tally sitting at 202.

No new COVID-19 cases in 4 days

Image credit: Bệnh Viện Sản Nhi Quảng Ninh

No new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Vietnam since last Thursday, keeping the total patient tally at 268.

4 people tested by quick test kits yielded positive results for COVID-19 yesterday. However, further testing using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, which is considered the most reliable method at the moment, confirmed that they were not infected.

All 4 of these are associated with a flower market in the Mê Linh District of Hanoi. This market is a frequent destination visited by Case 243, who went unreported for several weeks before his condition was discovered, prompting the government to lock down the entire hamlet where he lives.

26 new recoveries since Friday

Patients at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases taking a picture with medical staff before being discharged
Image credit: tuoitre.vn

26 COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals in Vietnam since last Friday.

Of these, 17 were treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, including a news reporter who had contracted the virus in an interview with a patient, an elderly man who required special care due to his age and other health problems, and several employees of the Trường Sinh Company, which provided logistical services to the former COVID-19 cluster of Bạch Mai Hospital.

3 others are foreigners residing in Hồ Chí Minh City, all of whom were customers at the Buddha Bar, another COVID-19 hotspot of Vietnam. They are a Brazilian couple and a man from the UK.

The remaining 6 are Vietnamese nationals returning from abroad. They received treatments at quarantine facilities in the provinces of Ninh Bình, Trà Vinh, and Bạc Liêu.

Another relapse spotted

A medical worker in a quarantine facility
Image credit: Bệnh viện Bệnh Nhiệt đới Trung ương

Following the first post-discharge relapse, a 60-year-old man from the UK, another discharged patient has once again tested positive for COVID-19.

This new patient is a 40-year-old woman known as Case 188, an employee of the Trường Sinh Company who was discharged on Thursday. After being discharged, she continued to be monitored at home and was tested again when she started showing symptoms of chest pain and coughing.

Since she had stayed only stayed at home with her husband and daughter, officials say that she can’t have contracted the virus again from an external source. They are still looking further into the case.

The patient has now been moved back to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi for treatment. Her husband and child, as well as 12 others who had contact with them, have also been quarantined.

We must not drop our guard

While the 4-day period without a new COVID-19 case is indeed great news, we must not let that lure us into a false sense of security. The world is still learning about the novel coronavirus, and its development can be highly unpredictable. It is essential that we exercise the necessary caution and stay at home for now.

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Cover image adapted from: Bệnh Viện Sản Nhi Quảng Ninh

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