State-owned E Hospital in Hanoi has been put on lockdown and stopped receiving new patients since August 19 evening after detecting a suspected carrier of coronavirus who is a patient under treatment there, according to the Ministry of Health.

A medical worker at the E Hospital in Hanoi on August 19 night. Photo: The Quynh

The carrier is an 87-year-old man who came to Hanoi from the northern province of Phu Tho for medical examination at E Hospital.

The man had a high temperature and a belly ache on August 10. He was taken to E Hospital for check-ups on August 12 and then stayed at his relatives’ house near the hospital.

The following day, he was admitted to the hospital for a chest scan that later showed his lung had been damaged.

The patient was tested for Covid-19 by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on August 18 and the positive result was confirmed one day later.

The patient has been referred to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases for treatment.

The director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said the man, numbered as Patient No.994, has tested negative twice for coronavirus and the hospital is running the test for the third time for confirmation.

This is the 12th locally-acquired coronavirus case Hanoi has registered since the virus recurred in Vietnam on July 25. Most of the cases are closely linked to the Danang outbreak.

Earlier, after the first two-week lockdown period ended on August 11, Danang has extended it due to “complexity and uncertainties” in the Covid-19 pandemic evolution.

After the first locally-transmitted case was confirmed in Danang, three large hospitals in the city, many residential areas, district clinics, and quarantine facilities were isolated.

In the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hanoi-based Bach Mai hospital, the largest hospital in Vietnam, was also locked down after 12 Covid-19 patients were found. This is a measure to protect hospitals and health workers.

At the time of writing, Vietnam’s infection count stands at 994, of which 25 have died of various pre-existing comorbidities and Covid-19 complications. The majority of the dead victims were patients of the three hospitals in Danang.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has also ordered localities across the nation to improve their testing capacity, and enhance scanning to prevent cross-infection.

According to Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, clusters of community infections would emerge in the coming time. He demanded that all localities remain on high alert to detect new cases, and zone off in a timely manner.

The sooner the infections are detected, the more effective the measures to contain the pandemic will be, Mr.Long stressed.