Vietnam discharges patients infected at Malaysian religious event

The patients had been treated at the Ninh Thuan General Hospital for more than two weeks.

After their discharge, the two men have been taken to their homes in Ninh Thuan Province’s Van Lam 3 Village, Phuoc Nam Commune, Thuan Nam District. They will be placed under medical monitoring for 14 days.

The two were announced to have recovered from Covid-19 after testing negative three times in a row, on March 21, 24 and 28.

Thai Phuong Phien, a hospital’s director, said that for the last six days, the two had displayed no symptoms, including fever and cough.

One of the men is a 42-year-old member of the Muslim community. He went from Ninh Thuan to Saigon on February 26 and flew to Kuala Lumpur on February 27, where he participated in a February 27 – March 1 religious event with around 16,000 people. He returned March 4 to Saigon's Tan Son Nhat Airport and joined a prayer session at a mosque in the city the same day and the following day.

The other patient is a 36-year-old native of Ninh Thuan who had accompanied him on the Malaysia trip.

They were admitted to Ninh Thuan General Hospital on March 15 and 17.

131 people who came into close contact with the duo had all tested negative after being quarantined.

As of Wednesday morning, Vietnam had recorded 212 infections. The latest discharges raise the number of Covid-19 patients released from hospitals in Vietnam to 60.

To date, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed more than 42,100 lives in 202 countries and territories.