The Vietnamese government reported on Wednesday that doctors are doing everything in their power to save a British pilot whose health has been worsening since his diagnosis of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 43-year-old UK citizen, who is Vietnam’s patient No. 91, has been hospitalized for 20 days at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases in District 5.

He tested positive for the novel coronavirus twice on March 18 and March 20, after having attended a Saint Patrick’s Day party at Buddha Bar & Grill in District 2 on March 14.

Since his admission to the hospital, the patient has maintained a high fever, along with gradually worsening respiratory failure, the government said on its verified Facebook account, where it gives updates on COVID-19 every day.

X-ray images showed that his lung damage has been getting worse.

His health condition turned critical with multiple organ failure at the beginning of this week.

He has been receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of outside-body life support, since Monday.

Ho Chi Minh City doctors have sought advice and consultation from their colleagues and experts at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

A group of leading inter-hospital experts spent a lot of time discussing treatment regimes, the patient’s vital signs, and issues related to testing in detail during a teleconference on Tuesday afternoon.

All of them agreed that the British patient must be saved “by all means,” the government said.

The medical professionals also discussed the conditions of other critically ill patients among Vietnam’s 129 active cases.

Patient No. 19, a 64-year-old Hanoi woman, no longer needs ECMO support, while patient No. 161, an 88-year-old woman from the northern province of Hung Yen, is being treated in the intensive care unit of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

The Ministry of Health reported two new cases of coronavirus infection on Wednesday morning, raising Vietnam’s tally to 251, with 122 patients having recovered. 

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