HCMC discharges one more Covid-19 patient

His discharge brings the number of active Covid-19 cases in HCMC down to two, and in Vietnam to 52, after a case of relapse detected Sunday has tested negative and is now treated as a discharged patient.

"Patient 248," 20, was released from the field hospital in HCMC’s Cu Chi District after two weeks of treatment and will be kept under medical monitoring at home for another 14 days.

He flew from the U.S. to Vietnam, transiting in Japan on Japan Airlines flight JL079, landing March 23 in HCMC. He was quarantined on arrival at a university dormitory in Thu Duc District and stayed in the same room with two other people. On April 5, his samples tested positive. His two roommates were then under quarantine for a further 14 days while he was sent to the Cu Chi field hospital. The roommates have both tested negative after their extra quarantine period.

After "Patient 248" till today, HCMC has gone 17 days straight without recording any new coronavirus infection. The city has no Covid-19 suspect either. People are suspects if they have symptoms like cough, fever and shortness of breath, have come from outbreak areas or have had direct contact with returnees from stricken areas.

The city now has two Covid-19 patients left, one at the Cu Chi hospital and the other at the HCMC Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

Vietnam has gone five days straight without recording any new Covid-19 infection, keeping its tally at 268 since Thursday morning. Of these, 216, including the latest discharge, have made full recovery.