Virus-stricken British pilot to be discharged from Vietnamese hospital and fly home
Record ID:
1561835
Virus-stricken British pilot to be discharged from Vietnamese hospital and fly home
- Title: Virus-stricken British pilot to be discharged from Vietnamese hospital and fly home
- Date: 11th July 2020
- Summary: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (JULY 11, 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CHO RAY HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF SIGN IN VIETNAMESE, READING "CHO RAY HOSPITAL" VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC OUTSIDE HOSPITAL
- Embargoed: 25th July 2020 08:31
- Keywords: Cho Rayu hospital; discharge Covid-19; coronavirus; Vietnam; British pilot; Vietnam Airlines
- Location: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
- City: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
- Country: Vietnam
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002CMD5PAF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: FACE OF PILOT BLURRED FROM SOURCE
A British pilot in Vietnam stricken with COVID-19 who at one point seemed close to death has almost fully recovered and is to be discharged from hospital and fly back home on Saturday (July 11).
The case of Stephen Cameron has attracted national attention in Vietnam, where a combination of targeted testing and aggressive quarantine has kept its coronavirus tally to an impressively low 370 cases, and zero deaths.
The 43-year-old Scot arrived in Vietnam from Britain in early March to work for Vietnam Airlines, according to state media. He was one of 19 people who visited a bar in Ho Chi Minh City on March 13 where a cluster of coronavirus cases was discovered, and was initially identified as "Patient 91."
By early April, Cameron was on a ventilator and life support machine at Ho Chi Minh City's Hospital of Tropical Diseases. In May, medical officials said the disease had reduced his lung capacity to 10% and that he urgently needed a lung transplant.
With the vast majority of Vietnam's COVID-19 patients already recovered, the news of a potential first death prompted a national outpouring of support, with dozens of people coming forward as potential lung donors.
Weeks later, however, Cameron regained consciousness after his condition began to improve. He was taken off life support and soon no longer required assistance from a ventilator to breathe, according to state media. Cameron was later transferred to Cho Ray Hospital on May 22.
He will fly to Hanoi later on Saturday, then continue on to Frankfurt, Germany before reaching home in the U.K.
(Production: Minh Nguyen) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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