Vietnam has its first confirmed cases of a new virus that appeared in Wuhan, China. The Cho Ray Hospital of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh announced on Jan 23, 2020.
According to a report on VNExpress, the representatives of Cho Ray Hospital confirmed that two Chinese men, Li Ding, born in 1954 and his son Li Zichao, born in 1992 who were tested positive for the coronavirus. The father and son have been diagnosed with the mysterious virus that broke out in Chinese city of Wuhan last month.
The father was hospitalised on Jan 17 with a high fever, days before his son showed symptoms, health officials said.
These cases were confirmed as the coronavirus that has sickened close to 582 people in China and others in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S.
“The patients have shown signs of good recovery, (their) fever has reduced and they can eat now,” Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Sang said Thursday at a meeting at Ho Chi Minh City’s Cho Ray hospital.
Li Ding and Li Zichao travelled to Hanoi of Vietnam from Wuhan city on January 13 and visited Nha Trang city and Long An city.
Before arriving Ho Chi Minh City, two patients visited many locations and travelled by airplanes, trains, taxis, and contacted with many people so the possibility this SARS-like virus spread between people can be happening.
Vietnam’s deputy health minister urged all precautions to avoid any further spread.
“We should immediately test any suspected cases so that we can detect (the disease) quicker. We don’t want it to spread to the public,” Nguyen Truong Son said at the meeting attended by reporters.
A representative of the o Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute said that, normally the test results will be available after 4-6 hours, so it is necessary to expand the screening area to prevent the disease from spreading.
What you need to know about coronavirus
What is coronavirus and how does it spread? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses whose effects range from causing the common cold to triggering much-more serious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which can affect humans and animals, according to the World Health Organization. China has confirmed that the new strain is being transmitted between humans.
Mapping the spread of the new coronavirus: The United States, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have all confirmed cases of the infection, which emerged last month in east-central China.
Wuhan, the Chinese city of 11 million people where the coronavirus outbreak began last month, has taken the unprecedented action of suspending all outbound travel beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.
