27 more Covid-19 patients recover in Vietnam

11 patients were discharged from Hanoi's National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, nine from three different hospitals in HCMC, two from Hue Central Hospital in central Vietnam and five from the Mekong Delta hospitals.

They would have to remain quarantined for the next 14 days.

Two patients discharged in Hue are a 66-year-old British woman and a 49-year-old British man, who were both on Vietnam Airlines flight VN54 that flew in from the U.K., landing March 2 in Hanoi. They were confirmed positive on March 8 and 9.

The two would be quarantined in a resort in Phu Vang District following their discharge.

In the Mekong Delta, four Vietnamese patients including a nine-year-old girl were discharged from Sa Dec General Hospital in Dong Thap Province and Binh Dai medical center in Ben Tre Province.

Among the discharged in HCMC, three are related to a March 14 party at the Buddha Bar & Grill, the largest Covid-19 hotspot in HCMC."Patient 98" is a 34-year-old British man who was confirmed positive on March 21, "Patient 120" is a 27-year-old Canadian man confirmed positive on March 23, and "Patient 159" is a 33-year-old Brazilian man confirmed positive on March 27.

Five other patients flew in from overseas: "Patient 95" is a 20-year-old resident of Go Vap District who flew in from France to Saigon's Tan Son Nhat Airport, landing March 18 and found positive four days later; "Patient 96" is a 21-year-old woman in District 8 who flew from Dubai to Tan Son Nhat March 19 and was confirmed positive March 22; "Patient 142" is a 26-year-old man in HCMC’s Binh Chanh District who flew in from the U.S. March 10 and was confirmed positive three days later; "Patient 150" is a 55-year-old Vietnamese man flying in from the U.S. on March 13, before being confirmed infected on March 26; and "Patient 160" is a 30-year-old woman from the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong who’d flown from Spain to Vietnam on March 22 and confirmed positive the same day.

"Patient 119" is a 29-year-old American man in Binh Thanh District. He was confirmed positive on March 23.

The discharged in Hanoi include a 29-year-old doctor working for the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi's Dong Anh District. He was confirmed positive on March 23, the first doctor in Vietnam, one working directly with Covid-19 patients, to be infected by the novel coronavirus.

Others include seven patients who were confirmed infected after flying from overseas. "Patient 21" is a 61-year-old man who flew in from the U.K. to Vietnam on March 2 and confirmed positive on March 8; "Patient 72" is a 25-year-old French woman flying to Hanoi on March 9 and confirmed positive on March 18; "Patient 84" is a 21-year-old man in Hanoi flying back from the U.K. on March 18 and confirmed positive on March 19; "Patient 111" is a 25-year-old woman from northern Nam Dinh Province, flying from from France to Hanoi on March 18 and was confirmed positive on March 22; "Patient 136" is a 23-year-old Hanoi woman flying from the U.S. on March 16 and confirmed positive on March 25; "Patient 137" is a 36-year-old man flying from Germany to Hanoi on March 15 and confirmed positive on March 25; and "Patient 222" is a 28-year-old Hanoi woman flying from the U.S. on March 20 and confirmed positive on April 2.

Three other patients discharged in Hanoi are related to Bach Mai Hospital, the country's largest Covid-19 hotspot.

"Patient 192" is a 21-year-old woman, an employee of Truong Sinh Company who provides food and other logistics services to the hospital. She was confirmed positive on March 30.

"Patient 197" is a 41-year-old man in Thanh Oai District. He went to Bach Mai Hospital for a health check-up on March 12 before being confirmed positive on March 30.

"Patient 200" is another employee of Truong Sinh Company. She works as a cleaner for the kitchen of Bach Mai Hospital, and was confirmed positive on March 30.

The 200th patient, 61, said: "I'm very glad that I'v tested negative and am free of the disease, so when I go back to my family it would not affect my children. I want to tell my children that they should feel assured as I have been taken care of."

Do Thi Phuong Mai, deputy director of the General Bacterial Infection Department at the Hanoi's National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, said treating Covid-19 patients is difficult as it is caused by a new virus strain. "We had to read many foreign documents to learn how to treat, find the drugs and their appropriate doses for Vietnamese people based on treatment regimens in foreign countries," she said.

The latest additions take the total Covid-19 recoveries in Vietnam to 122 of the 245 cases detected so far.

Globally, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed over 74,700 lives.