11-year-old boy discharged after Covid-19 recovery

"Patient 73" had tested negative for the novel coronavirus three times since March 24.

The boy will be placed under medical monitoring at his home in Tieu Son Village, Thanh Giang Commune, Thanh Mien District in the northern province for at least 14 more days.

He had landed March 9 in Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines flight VN54 from London. He went home and was quarantined at the Thanh Mien medical center, before being confirmed  Covid-19 positive on March 18.

Truong Mau Nghien, director of Thanh Mien District’s medical center, said: "The district has only treated one Covid-19 patient, this boy, and this success belongs to all our staff."

Doctors focused on symptomatic treatment and boosting the immune system, with the staff treating him like a family member and keeping him motivated during the treatment process, he said.

This boy is one of the seven child Covid-19 patients recorded so far in Vietnam, with the youngest being a three-month-old girl who was released from hospital in February.

The other five are all active patients, a two-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy who contracted the virus from their grandmother who was found infected after returning from a trip to the U.S., and a nine-year-old girl and two 10-year-old boys, all returning from abroad and testing positive while in quarantine.

As of Thursday morning, Vietnam had recorded 222 infections. The latest discharge raises the number of Covid-19 patients released from hospitals in Vietnam to 64.

To date, the Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 47,000 people as it spread to 203 countries and territories.