Hanoi hospital disinfected after coronavirus scare

At around 7 p.m. soldiers arrived in 10 vehicles at the hospital, one of Vietnam’s largest, in Dong Da District, and began spraying it.

They used chloramine B as prescribed by the Health Ministry.

According to Colonel Pham Xuan Hung, deputy commander of the Chemical Division, the unit scouted the hospital at noon that day, adding some equipment to be able to spray large volumes and reach high floors.

"With the improvement in military equipment, we hope to create a clean environment and prevent pathogens from spreading outside," Hung said.

Over 100 men from the Chemical Division in protective suits, masks and chemical sprayers carried out the task.

Patients, families, doctors, and health workers were instructed to vacate roads inside the hospital to make way for the troops.

The personnel first used high-pressure sprayers before switching to smaller equipment to disinfect less accessible corners.

The personnel themselves and all the equipment were disinfected after they finished their task in around an hour at 8 p.m.

Later that night the Hanoi High Command dispatched more than 30 vehicles to transport nearly 700 relatives of patients to a quarantine camp.

Vietnam's Covid-19 tally has risen to 179, with 21 cases having recovered and been discharged from hospitals. Sixteen infections have been linked to the Bach Mai Hospital.

The hospital has stopped admitting new patients and permitting visitors, and been isolated since Saturday morning. Nearly 1,000 patients currently being treated there will not be discharged until they test negative for the novel coronavirus.