The National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control confirmed on July 26 another Covid-19 case in the central city of Danang, raising the country's caseload to 418, as one of the first patients after 99 days without local infections in Vietnam.

Two latest Covid-19 patients are being treated at Danang C Hospital.

A 61-year old man living in Thanh Binh ward, Hai Chau district, has become the 418th coronavirus patient in Vietnam. This is the second confirmed case of Covid-19 in the central city over the past two days. Both of them are being treated at Danang Hospital and have to be on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). 

The 416th patient’s health has worsened and his treatment requires dialysis, according to the Treatment Sub-committee under the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

Like the 416th case, the source of the 418th patient’s infection remains unknown. 

Danang is implementing measures to launch epidemiological investigation, isolation, lockdown and quarantine. 

On the evening of July 25, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long established three working groups to support Danang to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The three teams include leading experts who are experienced in epidemiological investigation, isolation, treatment and testing of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long established three working groups to support the Covid-19 prevention in Danang. Photo: Tien Phong Online

The epidemic supervision team was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Nhu Duong, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and six other members, who had participated in technical assistance for cases in Son Loi, Ha Loi in Hanoi, Binh Thuan province and other places that once were epicenters of the pandemic.

The second team is led by Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy director of the Ministry of Health Medical Services Administration, and seven other members, three of whom are doctors who successfully treated Patient No.91, the most critical case in Vietnam to date.

The testing team is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Thi Quynh Mai, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and four other members from the same institute, who have cultivated and isolated SARS-CoV-2, and supported many localities in SARS-CoV-2 testing. 

The working groups are assigned to provide technical guidance in supervision, treatment, testing and Covid-19 disease prevention activities in Danang; report to the Ministry of Health and relevant departments and agencies on the situation, and prevention and control of the disease .

As many as 11,187 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients and entered Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions are being quarantined, including 220 at hospitals, 10,193 at centralized quarantine areas, and 774 at home.

Of the patient tally, the number of recoveries stood at 365 as of 6am on Saturday.