HCMC – The Health Ministry plans to return its most critically ill Covid-19 patient, a British pilot working for Vietnam Airlines, to his home country as he has recovered from the disease, with lung capacity reaching 30%.
Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the ministry’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, confirmed that the patient had tested negative for the new coronavirus six times over the past 10 days. The ministry is set to transport him to the United Kingdom when he becomes well enough to travel.
Khue added that the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where the patient is being treated, had “fulfilled the mission of treating the British pilot patient.”
His lung capacity has risen to 30% from the 10% recorded one week ago. The 43-year-old man will be transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC for further treatment.
The British citizen, tagged as the 91st case, has spent 63 days at the hospital, with 46 days on an ECMO, which is a life support machine.
Regarding the lung transplant plan, Khue noted that up to 59 people aged between 21 and 76 had volunteered as partial lung donors to save the British man. However, he needs a double-lung transplant, with an organ donated by a brain-dead person.
The pilot weighs 100 kilograms and is reportedly experiencing cytokine storms—an overreaction of the immune system, causing it to attack even healthy cells and organs.
