Vietnam races to save coronavirus-stricken British pilot and avoid its first Covid-19 death

The 43-year-old man, who caught the virus at a bar in Ho Chi Minh City in mid-March, is on life support

Experts said that the only way to save his life was with a lung transplant and 10 people had volunteered themselves as donors, but were turned down by doctors

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A woman wearing a face mask at the Quang Ba flower market in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:35pm, 14 May 2020Updated: 7:40pm, 14 May 2020

Vietnam has mounted an all-out effort to save the life of its most critically ill novel coronavirus patient, a British pilot who works for Vietnam Airlines, the national carrier.

Through aggressive testing and a mass, centralised quarantine programme, the Southeast Asian country has kept its tally of coronavirus cases to just 288 and has reported no deaths.

Little expense has been spared to try save the life of the 43-year-old man, identified only as “Patient 91”, who caught the coronavirus at a bar in the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City in mid-March, state media reported.

More than 4,000 people connected to the cluster were tested, with 18 of them found to be infected with the coronavirus.

While most have recovered, the British pilot is on life support and his condition has deteriorated significantly.

On Tuesday, the health ministry held a meeting with experts from top hospitals and decided that the only way to save the man’s life was with a lung transplant.

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