Health workers in the Da Nang Lung Hospital have mounted an all-out effort to save the life of a 57-year-old man who was critically ill with coronavirus. The man has been given the all-clear from the deadly virus following his four consecutive negative results at least 24 hours apart as per the Health Ministry’s guidelines. The man, a resident of Lien Chieu District, was the first case of community transmission confirmed in Da Nang and Viet Nam at large, on 25 July when a second wave of Covid-19 infections hit the city late July. 

The man tested positive for coronavirus on 23 July while he was treated for pneumonia in the C Hospital.  One day later, he was admitted to the Da Nang General Hospital after being classified as a suspect of having coronavirus and went through more tests for official confirmation as a virus carrier on 25 July.  On 6 August, he was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Da Nang Lung Hospital due to being on the brink of death.

According to doctor Le Thanh Phuc, the hospital’s Director, upon the patient’s testing negative for the virus, and he was transferred to a separate treatment area for further medical monitoring to avoid catching the virus again.

For the time being, in spite of his all-clear from the virus, the patient is still being treated in the ICU for his complex comorbidities, and he remains resorting to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) breathing and heart support, in parallel with continuous blood transfusion and dialysis.  He now suffers severe physical exhaustion, general muscle weakness and pulmonary fibrosis.

The hospital’s staff are pulling out the stops to help him make considerable health improvements in the coming time.  In addition to the use of medical machines, medical workforce have to do many other support acts, from back flapping, oral suctioning to physical therapy applications for the man.

In other positive news, on Tuesday morning, the hospital discharged an additional five Covid-19 patients treated here following three to four consecutive negative results.

Doctor Le Thanh Phuc (2nd, right), the hospital’s Director handing hospital discharge papers to the recovered people on Tuesday morning

The recovered people, consisting of 3 from Da Nang and 2 from Quang Nam Province, were given clean bills of health after they had made a full recuperation from the life-threatening disease. 

All are now in stable health and show overall stable status, vital signs, normal organ function and improved chest X-ray readings.

Upon their home comebacks, these recovered people must undergo a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine period at their places of residence, as a means of ensuring there is no possibility of the virus recurring or being transmitted among the wider community.

The freshly-discharged cases have brought the city’s total recoveries to 220 till date after a second wave of Covid-19 infections hit the city late July.

Currently, the remaining patients are still receiving treatment in the Hoa Vang Field Hospital and the Lung Hospital.  Of them, some seriously ill patients are on track of beating the odds to survive this deadly virus.

By PHAN CHUNG- Translated by A.T