Two patients were discharged from a hospital in Vietnam on Wednesday, a positive sign in the country’s battle against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as the total number of the recovered now reaches 60.

The two, B.T.T. and B.V.C., tested positive for the virus on March 16 and 18 after their hospitalization at Ninh Thuan Province General Hospital on March 15 and 16, respectively.

They both reside in Van Lam 3 Hamlet, Phuoc Nam Commune, Thuan Nam District, Ninh Thuan Province, located in south-central Vietnam.

They attended a 16,000-strong religious event at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur on February 27 and returned to Vietnam on March 4.

At least hundreds of the approximately 16,000 participants in the event have been diagnosed with COVID-19, with thousands more reporting symptoms of a respiratory disease, Reuters reported.  

“We sincerely thank doctors and healthcare workers at the hospital for having well treated us,” T. said.

The two patients will have to undergo further treatment for their pre-existing conditions, said Dr. Thai Phuong Phien, director of the Ninh Thuan Province General Hospital.

T. suffers from disabetes while C. has high blood pressure, Dr. Phien elaborated.

Vietnam has announced 212 COVID-19 patients to date, both local and foreign, with 60 having fully recovered from the disease.

The country practices nationwide social distancing from April 1 to 15 in a bid to contain the epidemic that has become more complicated since March 6, when a new patient was confirmed after the nation had gone three weeks without any infection.

Vietnam recorded its first patient on January 23, according to a document issued by the government on Wednesday.

Its first batch of 16 patients had been discharged by February 26, with no new infection documented between February 13 and March 5.

Patient No. 17 was announced on March 6. Since then, Vietnam has confirmed 196 additional infections.  

During the 15-day social distancing, everyone is requested to stay home and only go out under absolutely necessary circumstances such as ones for food, medicine, emergency care or for working at essential businesses, factories, and services having been allowed to continue operating.

Citizens are advised to maintain a minimum distance of two meters in social interaction, the prime minister said in a directive on Tuesday, insisting that the government bans any gathering of more than two people outside public offices, schools, hospitals, and in public spaces in general.

The central government has maintained that this two-week period is critical to Vietnam’s fight against the virus.

Its aim is to keep the number of cases under 1,000 for as long as possible.

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