Vietnam confirmed the death of a second COVID-19 patient on Friday evening, a 61-year-old man in the central city of Da Nang with many underlying conditions, Deputy Health Minister Dr. Nguyen Truong Son announced on the same day.

The man suffered from chronic kidney failure and had been a regular patient at Da Nang Hospital, where he received dialysis as well as treatment for other conditions including hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation and gout.

On June 23, doctors diagnosed him with end-stage chronic kidney failure.

From July 9, the patient began having high fevers. On July 17, he was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the central infirmary suffering from respiratory failure.

He tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday and was identified as Vietnam's COVID-19 patient No. 437.

On Wednesday, he went into a circulatory arrest and was put on an ECMO machine, which replaces the function of the heart and lungs.

Despite efforts put into saving the man by doctors, he passed away on the afternoon of Friday, July 31.

This is only Vietnam's second COVID-19 casualty since the pandemic was first reported in the country in January.

The first virus-related death in Vietnam was reported earlier on Friday, a 70-year-old man hailing from Hoi An City in the central province of Quang Nam who also suffered underlying conditions including end-stage kidney disease.

Vietnam reported its biggest single-day spike in cases on Friday, adding 82 more COVID-19 patients including 26 imported cases and 56 community-based infections.

The Southeast Asian country's COVID-19 tally now sits at 546, with 373 recoveries.

All of the country's 104 local transmissions since Saturday last week have been linked to Da Nang, with authorities still on the hunt for patient zero.

Of those in treatment, 13 patients are in extremely severe conditions.

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