Insights into repatriation flight with 120 Vietnamese COVID-19 patients

	Hanoi's hospital on alert as 120 COVID-19 infected citizens returning from Equatorial Guinea
	116 COVID-19 patients to be repatriated from Equatorial Guinea
	Bringing stranded Vietnamese citizens in Equatorial Guinea home immediately

Dr. Than Manh Hung, one of the two main doctors on the special flight (Photo: Vietnamnet)

Dr. Than Manh Hung, Deputy Head of Emergency Department of the Central Tropical Disease Hospital, is one out of the four doctors and nurses who directly supported the on-board. All have extensive experience in handling emergency cases.

As reported by Vietnamnet, the repatriate journey last for 30 hours, including over 20 hours onboard. On the flight back to Vietnam, 15-16 patients developed fever, several others experienced shortness of breath due to the change in air pressure. Except for these two developments, which were both well-managed by the on-flight medical crew, the repatriate flight went safely as expected.

“Knowing there might be half of the returnees might carry the virus, we were all nervous. Now that the flight was a success, we breath a sigh of relief”, Dr. Hung recalled.

The repatriate flight carrying 219 returnees from Equatorial Guinea is considered highly contagious given a large number of positive patients and narrow plane space.

“We’d prepared ourselves for the worst-case scenario that we might contract the virus. However, we were all determined and willing to try our best for the challenging mission”, the doctor said.

The non-COVD-19 returnees in Vietnam (Photo: Vietnam Times)

Medical supplies are placed readily available before the flight

According to Dr. Hung, although his family understood the busy and dangerous nature of his profession in COVID-19, they couldn’t hide their anxiety about his participation on the flight this time.

“I’ve tried to stop them from such feeling. I know they are always of great concern about my health”, the doctor smiled.

Meanwhile, nurse Truong Van Truong who also accompanied the 219 returnees home, said he took the mission without their family knowing.

The repatriate flight taking Vietnamese nationals from Equatorial Guinea took off with more medical equipment than usual due to the record number of COVID-19 patients. Before entering the plane, all returnees were categorized into different groups, with severe patients placed onto the upper row for prompt treatment in case any incident occurred.

“This is the fist repatriate flight with such a large number of COVID-19 patients. We had done it with our highest spirit, all for the patients and the safety of the community”, Dr. Hung said.

COVID-19 Updates (July 31): WHO: No seasonal trend for the spread of SARS-CoV 2 virus The latest figures on the Worldometers show that, globally, there are 17,445,391 cases of Covid-19 infection, including 675,452 deaths and 10,918,302 recovered.

COVID-19 Updates (July 31): Vietnam confirmed 45 new patients The Ministry of Health in the morning of July 31 announced the recognition of new COVID-19 cases, including 33 cases at Da Nang Hospital and ...

Flight brings home over 240 citizens from Myanmar as Vietnam battling new coronavirus wave Relevant agencies of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Embassy in Myanmar, and low-cost carrier VietJet Air on July 30 coordinated with Myanmar’s competent agencies to bring home ...