Doctor Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong of the Da Nang Hospital for Lung Diseases.

The hospital’s staff have worked overtime and risked their own safety to confront the COVID-19 epidemic.

Da Nang is the destination for thousands of Chinese people who come to work, learn, and travel. 

Doctor Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong is on duty in the special quarantine area of the Da Nang Hospital for Lung Diseases. She says both she and her husband are doctors at the hospital. They have two children, but their parents live in Nghe An province, more than 500km from Da Nang city.

Since the epidemic began, Duong’s children, one of them just 6 months old, have had to stay with neighbors because she works at the hospital most of the time.

According to Duong, they are not the only ones at the hospital who are making personal sacrifices to fight the epidemic.  

Doctor Le Thanh Phuc, the hospital’s Director, said “Although some patients are upset at being quarantined, we do our utmost to care for them until they are discharged from the hospital.”

Doctor Nguyen Huu Tho, who fought both the SARS and MERS epidemics, said he did not hesitate to join the fight against the new strain of coronavirus.

But what makes him most anxious is the worry of family members and friends and the discrimination of other people.

Doctor Nguyen Thanh Trung, Deputy Director and Head of the Epidemic Steering Committee of Da Nang Hospital for Lung Diseases.

“Doctors and medical workers must wear full protective gears when they visit quarantined cases. When we leave the COVID-19 quarantine area, we must remove clothing, face masks, and gloves, take a shower and put on fresh clothes. Sometimes we repeat the process 10 times a day,” Tho said.

The telephone in the workroom of doctor Nguyen Thanh Trung, Deputy Director and Head of the Epidemic Steering Committee of Da Nang Hospital for Lung Diseases, rings continuously.

Many people call the hospital to ask for information and explanations about COVID-19, putting an additional strain on doctors and medical workers.

“There is too much information, so some patients begin to panic. We are tense from treating patients, correcting misinformation, and relieving patients’ fears. People who don’t follow the official information updates call the hospital almost every day,” said Trung. VOV

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