33 New COVID-19 Cases Reported in Vietnam, Hanoi To PCR Test All Đà Nẵng Returnees

COVID-19 in Vietnam, update 7th August 2020

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 patient count has hit 750 today after 33 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours. One of the new patients, a 67-year-old woman from Đà Nẵng, was pronounced dead before her test result for COVID-19 came back positive. Her death is the 10th one related to COVID-19 in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Hanoi is preparing to subject all people who returned from Đà Nẵng between 15th and 29th July to real-time PCR testing after a man living in the city’s Bắc Từ Liêm district was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus even though he had tested negative on a quick test kit.

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33 new COVID-19 cases in Vietnam

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(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Image credit: Bệnh Viện Sản Nhi Quảng Ninh

The latest 3 COVID-19 patients in Vietnam, confirmed this morning, include:

• Patient 748 from Thanh Hóa Province, who has had contact with a previous patient.
• Patient 749 from Quảng Trị Province, who went to the Đà Nẵng Hospital in July to take care of a relative.
• Patient 750, who is friends with Patient 749.

Yesterday evening, the Ministry of Health also announced 30 cases. 3 of these are imported cases quarantined upon arrival, 20 are residents of Đà Nẵng, 6 are living in the nearby Quảng Nam Province, and 1 is a tourist from Bắc Giang Province who visited Đà Nẵng in July.

The cases in Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam are mostly linked to the Đà Nẵng Hospital, a major cluster of the city. These include:

• 7 patients who are treating various health problems unrelated to COVID-19 at the hospital.
• 4 who came to the hospital to take care of sick relatives.
• 12 who have had close contact with previously confirmed COVID-19 patients.
• 1 medical worker at the hospital.
• 1 man from Liên Chiểu District, Đà Nẵng City, whose source of infection is still being investigated.
• 1 woman from Đà Nẵng who died before being confirmed positive for COVID-19.

The deceased is a 67-year-old woman who had suffered from type 2 diabetes and multiple myeloma – a variation of blood cancer. This is the 10th fatality Vietnam has reported to date.

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Hanoi performs PCR tests on all Đà Nẵng returnees

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(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Image credit: F&B Tu Te – Danang Kitchen

Starting from today, Hanoi will perform PCR tests on all people who returned from Đà Nẵng between 15th and 29th July, even those who have previously been quick tested.

The decision was made by Hanoi’s Chairman of the People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung in light of the fact that mass testing using quick test kits, which the city has been carrying out up to now, only has an accuracy of 65%. As we reported yesterday, a man in Hanoi was confirmed to have COVID-19 even though he’d yielded a negative result when tested with a quick test kit.

PCR tests detect the presence of genetic materials of SARS-CoV-2, and are considered to be the most accurate method of detecting COVID-19 available at the moment.

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Ministry of Health calls for recovered patients to donate plasma

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A donor getting his plasma taken at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases
Image credit: National Hospital of Tropical Diseases

With several COVID-19 cases still in serious condition, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health is calling for recovered COVID-19 patients to donate their plasma. According to Dr. Văn Đình Tráng from the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, the plasma of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 contains an antibody that can help with the treatment of patients.

Anyone interested in donating can contact the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases via the hotline 19003228. However, there are certain requirements: They must be between 18 to 65 years old, weigh over 50KG for men and 45KG for women, and have recovered from COVID-19 at least 14 days ago.

Potential donors will also be tested for other diseases such as Hepatitis B, HIV, and syphilis to prevent cross-infection.

So far, 5 people have volunteered to donate their plasma, including a doctor at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases who previously contracted the virus while treating patients.

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Vietnam’s COVID-19 situation, update on 7th August

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Officials have forecasted that this second wave of COVID-19 infections will reach its peak in the next 10 days, so it is crucial that we remain on high alert now more than ever.

If you have been to Đà Nẵng recently, don’t forget to contact the nearest medical facility and get tested to protect yourself and your family. Meanwhile, it is never redundant to take precautionary measures such as wearing masks and avoiding crowds.

For more stories, check out:

• Đà Nẵng charity kitchen provides food to quarantine facilities
• Hanoi raises pandemic alert level
• Saigon restore COVID-19 restriction
• Đà Nẵng residents support each other with free food and face masks
• Đà Nẵng builds makeshift hospital to fight COVID-19

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Cover image adapted from Bệnh Viện Sản Nhi Quảng Ninh and F&B Tu Te – Danang Kitchen

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