A patient who had recovered from novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) died of end-stage liver fibrosis in Vietnam last week, according to the national committee on COVID-19 prevention and control.

The patient was the country’s 251st confirmed case, the committee said on Monday night.

The case, 64-year-old N.V.D., was admitted to a general hospital in Ha Nam Province, located in northern Vietnam, on March 20.

He tested positive for the novel coronavirus on April 7.

The patient was at high risk as he had many pre-existing conditions, including liver fibrosis, gout, and alcoholism.

Health workers could not trace back the source of his infection then.

He was transferred to the National Hospital for Tropical Disease in Hanoi after his initial treatment in Ha Nam.

The man’s tests returned negative for four times at the hospital in the capital before he was sent back to his hometown for liver fibrosis treatment on April 17.

The man died of cirrhosis on Friday, the committee said, adding that his death was not caused by the novel coronavirus.

“Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism,” Mayo Clinic says on its website.

He had gone into a coma due to the critical liver disease and electrolyte disorders.

The patient retested negative for the virus at the general hospital in Ha Nam upon his death.

Vietnam has confirmed 271 COVID-19 cases, with 221 recoveries and no documented fatality, according to the health ministry’s latest updates.  

The Southeast Asian nation has carried out over 261,000 tests so far.

It is quarantining more than 27,400 people at the time of writing.

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