Doctors prepare at Đà Nẵng General Hospital. The hospital was locked down as a COVID-19 hotspot. — Photo courtesy An Bình

ĐÀ NẴNG — COVID-19 patient No 370, who was being cared for at central Quảng Ngãi Province’s Bình Sơn health centre, tested negative for the first time on Wednesday after a week of treatment.

Director of the Bình Sơn health centre, Võ Hùng Viễn, said medical samples were taken two to four times a day, and the first test was negative according to the Nha Trang-based Pasteur Institute.

Viễn said patient No 419 has recovered as of Tuesday.

The provincial health department said 35 people who had close contact with patient No 419 tested negative after results announced on Monday.

It said at least 1,000 people have visited grassroots health centres to declare their health. They were in close contact or indirect communication with the two COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, two COVID-19 patients (No 416 and 418) have recovered after medical checks on Tuesday.

A checkpoint on a main road in Quảng Nam Province. All vehicles and people returning from COVID-19 hotspots have to declare their health. — Photo courtesy Tưởng Thị Ngọ

Director of the Đà Nẵng General Hospital, Dr Lê Đức Nhân, said patient No 418 did not have a fever, while No 419 should not need Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) in a few days.

He said the two patients suffered serious conditions including pneumonia, hypertension, and diabetes for a long time before contracting SARS-CoV-2.

According to the city’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC), 2,923 medical samples had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, while 1,300 people in close contact with the COVID-19 patients have been quarantined at health centres or isolated at home.

More than 2,000 patients and their relatives had been safely transported from the general hospitals and other quarantine centres between July 26-29. Only 673 patients including 19 COVID-19 patients are at the hospital as of Wednesday.

The city has expanded social distancing orders to suburban Hòa Vang district, and a lock-down would be arranged at some places - where COVID-19 patients had visited - in the coming days.

Field hospitals would be built to deal with possible COVID-19 patients.

The city’s tourism department has listed six hotels with 200 discounted rooms for 314 tourists stranded in the city due to social distancing orders.

Donors have brought water, face masks and food for doctors, patients and their relatives at the general hospital. At least 10,000 face masks and 100 crates of water were transported to the hospital on Wednesday.

Free face masks are offered at a take-away coffee shop in Đà Nẵng. Local donors have brought 10,000 face masks, water bottles and food to help doctors and patients at the COVID-19 hotspots. — VNS Photo Công Thành

All members of Quảng Nam football club have isolated themselves at home after an assistant coach visited the C Hospital - which provides care for COVID-19 patients - several times.

Authorities in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province said they were prepared to host patients from Đà Nẵng to ease overloading at hospitals in Đà Nẵng. Doctors from Huế have been sent to support hospitals in Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi.

The provincial CDC said two Chinese citizens, Guang Shou, 40, and Zhao Tuan Jie, 51, who rode motorbikes from Đà Nẵng to Huế on Wednesday, have been taken to quarantine sites in Huế.

It also isolated 76 people who had contact with two COVID-19 patients (No 416 and 418) in Đà Nẵng.

A student studying in Huế (who had close contact with patient No 416) tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 on Wednesday. —VNS