A doctor responsible for treating patients infected with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Vietnam has tested positive with the virus, the Ministry of Health reported Monday.

Medical staff specializing in infectious diseases are posed to infection

The doctor, 29, at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases No.2 located on the suburban district of Dong Anh, Hanoi, showed first symptoms of pneumonia on March 19 and the symptoms developed with coughing, muscle pain, and fever on the next day.

After sampling was tested positive with the virus, as many as116 medical staff and patients in the hospital have been put under medical supervision. All the related people tested negative with the virus for the first time.

This doctor has participated in the fight against Covid-19 since January 31 with screening suspected people, treating infected ones, and providing emergency to patients with critical conditions.

He has been equipped with protective clothing and spent all the time at the hospital.

He is among the five infected cases announced on Monday [March 23], taking the toll of infections to 118 in Vietnam so far.

Vietnam’s preparations

So far, Vietnam reports three medical staff infected with the virus. Two days ago, two nurses at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Some 200 medical staff who were in close contact with the infected nurses have been under quarantine and a medical center has been closed due to the infection.

Vietnam has been aware of keeping clinic facilities free of transmission and medical staff have been equipped with all protective clothing.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has worked with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ensure enough scrubs, surgical gloves, masks, and glasses for medical staff. The MOH said it will stockpile three million surgical masks by the end of March.

Nguyen Quang Tuan, director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that the hospital will keep three million of surgical masks in reserves and it has asked medical staff to use protective clothing all the time at work.

Expressing concerns over the transmission threats among medical staff, Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, asked the municipal health department to provide enough protective clothing and allowance to medical staff.

He warned that transmission among medical staff would be disastrous as it requires at least 10 medical staff to serve one coronavirus patient.

Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam, has 18,881 doctors. The city has planned to train doctors and nurses of other wards to contribute to the fights against the pandemic.

Doctor Nguyen Tri Thuc, director of Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said each hospital must have a process to strictly manage contagion and quarantine to mitigate infection risk for medical staff.