A medical worker takes a swab for COVID-19 testing from a resident in Son Tra district of Da Nang city (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Among the 242 active COVID-19 cases currently under treatment in Vietnam, 13 are in a critical condition, the Ministry of Health said on August 3.
Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment and deputy head of the sub-committee on treatment at the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said among the severe cases, ten have required invasive mechanical ventilation and ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).
Previously, more than 20 percent of these cases had showed no clinical symptoms.
The majority of patients are elderly with many underlying conditions. These patients are under special treatment at Hue Central Hospital, Da Nang Hospital, Da Nang Lung Hospital, and Quang Nam General Hospital in central Vietnam, along with HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Khue said all the best doctors have been called in to help treat the patients, who are closely monitored through the COVID-19 online support and operation management centre located in the department.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son has requested directors of Cho Ray Hospital, HCM City’s Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital and the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases to urgently send health experts to Quang Nam General Hospital to participate in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Khue suggested medical examination and treatment facilities closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic to detect all suspected cases and cases coming from pandemic-hit areas for immediate isolation and quarantine.
As of August 3 morning, Vietnam had reported 621 infections, with 372 recoveries and six fatalities./.
VNA
