Overview of the Covid-19 epidemic at Bach Mai Hospital in the past 10 days: From the first 2 cases to the most complicated `outbreak` in the country 9
On March 29 and early morning of March 30, the Ministry of Health identified 20 new cases of Covid-19 infection, of which 14 cases were related to Bach Mai Hospital.
Thus, in just 10 days, Bach Mai Hospital recorded 26 related cases.
26 Covid-19 cases related to Bach Mai Hospital
At the Center for Tropical Diseases of Bach Mai Hospital on March 20, 2 cases of Covid-19 infection were recorded.
Patient 86, is a nurse of the HIV Outpatient Clinic – Tropical Disease Center of Bach Mai Hospital.
On March 11, she had symptoms of chest tightness, no cough, no fever and was admitted to the Cardiovascular Institute of Bach Mai Hospital for treatment for 4 days.
She was sampled for screening on March 19, the result was positive for nCoV, and was quarantined at the Central Tropical Hospital 2.
Patient 87, a nurse, receives patients at the isolation ward of the Tropical Disease Center of Bach Mai Hospital.
On March 22, a graphic designer – daughter of Patient 86, was identified as the third case related to Bach Mai Hospital, and is also BN107 in the country.
At the Department of Neurology – Bach Mai Hospital: On March 24, a 66-year-old female patient (BN133), who went to Bach Mai Hospital in March for treatment at the Department of Neurology, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Patient 133’s daughter-in-law took care of her mother for 23 days, and has now been identified as BN172 with Covid-19.
Patient 161Â is in the same room as Patient 133, along with her daughter-in-law (BN162) and niece (BN163), who are also infected with Covid-19.
Also at the Department of Neurology, on the evening of March 29, another positive patient was confirmed as BN185.
In addition, on March 28, the Ministry of Health announced patient 170, who took his father for examination and treatment at Bach Mai Hospital.
On March 30, one more case of taking a family member to be examined at the hospital was Patient 185.
In addition, the other 15 patients are all employees of Truong Sinh company, specializing in providing services for Bach Mai Hospital.
Among them, Patient 178 is currently being quarantined and treated in Dai Tu, Thai Nguyen.
The source of infection is unclear
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son assessed Bach Mai Hospital as a large and dangerous outbreak.
However, Bach Mai Hospital is a large medical facility, with 10,000 – 15,000 people passing through every day, the risk of infection not only from patients and medical staff, but also from visitors, cannot be ruled out.
Regarding the results of the epidemiological investigation, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dac Phu (former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine) said that for the past 2 weeks, epidemiology experts have been closely monitoring and analyzing day and night to try to
Initially, experts focused on the direction of infection from medical staff, but after testing, all medical staff were negative, clearly showing patient-to-patient transmission in the ward space.
Specifically, regarding epidemiology, when there was information that Patient 133 in Lai Chau was infected with Covid-19, the hospital immediately tested those in close contact, discovering Patient 161 – who was in the same room, and this person’s daughter-in-law (BN162).
While the 88-year-old mother (Patient 161) tested positive immediately and clearly, the daughter-in-law had to test again and again to test positive, and the positive was `very weak` due to a low viral load, not enough for the patient.
According to Deputy Director of Bach Mai Hospital – Dr. Duong Duc Hung, there are 2 reasons leading to this situation: First, because the patient is newly infected;
He also judged that the epidemiological diagram was that the daughter-in-law contracted Covid-19 outside and then passed it on to her 88-year-old mother, who then slept in the same bed as patient No. 133 in Lai Chau, so all three people were infected with the virus.
However, subsequent epidemiological investigation showed that there was an even more dangerous source of infection from employees of companies providing food and logistics services in the hospital.
Specifically, the company providing services at Bach Mai Hospital has had 8 infected people.
The most worrying thing is that the dining area is open to everyone outside of society to eat.
In addition, epidemiological experts are continuing to investigate the source of infection from professional patient caregivers.
Mr. Tran Dac Phu said that the risk of infection from employees of service providers in the hospital and professional patient care teams is very dangerous because these people move through many hospitals.
According to the Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee, Bach Mai Hospital is full of complex factors and high risk of infection when there are many seriously ill patients.
Isolate the entire hospital, spray disinfectant, and transport the patient’s family to centralized quarantine
As soon as the first cases were detected, Bach Mai Hospital conducted testing samples from more than 7,000 people, including medical staff, patients and workers in the hospital.
At the same time, screening 14,000 outpatients at the hospital in the past 10 days, recommending that these cases need to self-isolate at home, and if there are signs of cough or fever, they must immediately report to health authorities.
Since March 28, the hospital decided to quarantine the entire space, implementing `no entry from inside, no entry from outside` and not allowing people to enter or leave the hospital.
The hospital temporarily stops accepting patients, requesting medical examination and treatment facilities in the North and Central regions to temporarily stop referring patients to the hospital until further notice. In case of necessity, online consultations can be held.
At the same time, the funeral home was closed, the hospital entrance was only arranged at Giai Phong street, and two checkpoints were set up to check body temperature and wash hands at the entrance gate and points in the medical examination area.
On the evening of March 28, the Chemical Corps decontaminated and disinfected all relevant areas in the hospital.
Director of Bach Mai Hospital said that currently the hospital is still operating in a quarantine state, mobilizing doctors and nurses to both treat and take comprehensive care of patients, not allowing family members to enter the patient room for direct care.
At noon on March 29, the Ministry of Health issued urgent notice No. 9, requesting all people who have been to Bach Mai Hospital from March 12 onwards to seriously do the following 3 things:
– Send a text message stating your full name and residential address to phone number 8889.
– Contact your local Center for Disease Control for advice.
– Make a medical declaration on the NCOVI application (ncovi.vn), or declare online at tokhaiyte.vn, regularly update your health status for advice and assistance.
