A Vietnamese patient was discharged from a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, over two weeks from his hospitalization with severely damaged lungs for treatment for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The man, a 55-year-old, resides in Tan Dinh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

The patient, Vietnam’s 150th case, was emotional when he extended his sincere thanks to the health workers at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases upon his discharge.

Doctors had met with quite a few difficulties in treating the patient, said Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, head of the infectious disease department at the hospital.

The patient was hospitalized on March 24. His lungs were seriously damaged so he was given respiratory support together with antibiotics.

He has fully recovered after more than three weeks of care at the hospital, Dr. Phong said, adding that the patient is required to self-isolate at home for another 14 days.

On March 13, the patient returned to Vietnam from the U.S., with transit time in Taiwan, aboard EVA Air flight BR395. Their seats were 2D and 2K.

Their flight landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

He went home after entry, as Vietnam only started enforcing compulsory isolation of all arrivals from foreign countries on March 21.

The man visited many places and came into contact with a lot of people from March 14 to 18.

He came to the Family Medical Practice clinic at 34 Le Duan Boulevard in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City for a consultation on March 18.

He was then advised to have his health checked at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where he tested negative for the novel coronavirus for the first time.

He was still sent to a field hospital for COVID-19 in Can Gio, an outlying district of Ho Chi Minh City.

He had a fever, sore throat, and coughing on March 23 before testing positive in a conclusive test.

He was transferred back to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases one day later.

He was among nine patients discharged from hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.

Thirty-one out of 53 patients in the southern Vietnamese hub have made a full recovery.

Vietnam added four new cases to the national tally to make it 249 patients in total on Tuesday, when the country also announced 27 hospital discharges.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has declared 122 patients free of the virus so far.

Over 94,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Vietnam, the minstry said.  

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