E Hospital in Hanoi reopened on August 20 evening as Patient No.994, who had checkups at the hospital, was removed from the list of Covid-19 cases after he tested negative to SARS-CoV-2 several times, according to the Ministry of Health.
Le Ngoc Thanh (in white shirt), director of the Hospital E, removes the fences Photo: Giang Huy/VNE |
At a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Covid-19 Prevention and Control in Hanoi on August 20, Acting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the patient had tested negative twice on August 19 and twice on August 20 at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Test result at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) also showed the same result on August 20 evening. He is now under quarantine at a branch of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Dong Anh district, Hanoi.
He tested positive for the virus for the first time by the NIHE on August 19 morning and he was reported to become the 994th Covid-19 case the next day.
In the past one month, the patient did not leave his residence in Thanh Ba district, the northern province of Phu Tho. His family members neither traveled to pandemic-hit areas.
On August 11, he had a fever and bellyache. A day later, he had health check-up at E Hospital in Hanoi and stayed at his relative’s house in Bac Tu Liem district.
After news on the patient's SARS-CoV-2 positive result, E Hospital stopped receiving new patients from 8pm on August 19 and Covid-19 containment protocol was immediately imposed throughout the hospital.
On August 19 night, approximately 100 samples from his family members, medical staff and those who had contact with him at the hospital were also collected and tested. No one has been found positive for the virus so far.
The Ministry of Health’s leader said that this is one of the notable cases for hospitals. When patients visit hospitals with symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, control measures for a Covid-19-suspected case should be implemented at once.
Dr. Le Ngoc Thanh, director of the E Hospital, said that patients now can visit the hospital for medical examination and treatment normally.
The screening process for visitors to the hospital will be stricter and all of them must wear face masks and disinfect hands, Dr. Thanh added.
