A quarantine area where COVID-19 patients are under treatment at Đà Nẵng General Hospital. — Photo danang.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI — Among the 242 active COVID-19 cases currently under treatment in Việt Nam, 13 are in a critical condition, the Ministry of Health said Tuesday morning.

Dr Lương Ngọc Khuê, director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment and deputy head of the sub-committee on treatment at the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said among the severe cases, ten have required invasive mechanical ventilation and ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), he said.

Previously, more than 20 per cent of these cases had showed no clinical symptoms.

The majority of patients are elderly with many underlying conditions. These patients are under special treatment at Huế Central Hospital, Đà Nẵng General Hospital, Đà Nẵng Lung Hospital, and Quảng Nam General Hospital in central Việt Nam, the epicentre of the current coronavirus outbreak in Việt Nam, along with HCM City Tropical Diseases Hospital.

Khuê said all the best doctors have been called in to help treat the patients, who are closely monitored through the COVID-19 online support and operation management centre located in the department.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Trường Sơn has requested directors of Chợ Rẫy Hospital, HCM City’s Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital and the HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases to urgently send health experts to Quảng Nam General Hospital to participate in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Khuê suggested medical examination and treatment facilities closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic to detect all suspected cases and cases coming from pandemic-hit areas for immediate isolation and quarantine.

As of Monday morning, Việt Nam has reported 621 infection cases, of which 372 have fully recovered. Six fatalities have been reported since last Friday. — VNS