Recovered Covid-19 patients volunteer to help in hospitals

Lately, touching stories about volunteers who have recovered from the coronavirus agreed to stay on at stretched hospitals to help health care workers struggling to cope with an influx of infected people have spread quickly.
Recovered Covid-19 patients volunteer to help in hospitals ảnh 1 Former Covid-19 patient Nguyen Hong Ky looks after a Covid-19 patient (Photo: SGGP)
In his protective suit, young man Huynh Khang carefully fed an elderly woman in her bed in a hospital encouraging her to have this bowl of porridge so that she can get well soon and go home. Despite her breathing problem, the old woman smiled and had every spoonful of Khang's porridge.
Having caught Covid-19 after participating in volunteer work at a laboratory in Ho Chi Minh City, student Khang of the Vietnam Youth Academy was taken to the hospital for treatment. After recovering from illness, Khang began to think about working in infirmaries as a volunteer to help other patients and wrote an application to serve in field hospitals.
Khang officially accepted a job at the multi-story Covid-19 treatment field hospital in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District, helping take care of elderly and serious patients who could not live on their own. He shared that up to now, he feels volunteering is worthwhile despite fatigue and homesickness as he considered this work as a thank you for the silent sacrifices by the doctors and nurses who have treated him.
Being a former Covid-19 patient, 33-year-old Nguyen Hong Ky in Tan Binh District decided to return to the field hospital No.4 to treat Covid-19, where he used to stay for treatment of Covid-19 to help medical workers here.
Every morning, after putting on a protective suit, the man arrives at the emergency room to brush patients’ teeth or feed patients. He also changes diapers, washes hair, cuts nails for the patients. Currently, he is taking care of 10 severe patients being treated in the emergency room.
He said his mother had passed away, so he missed her when looking at elderly patients in the emergency room. Accordingly, he always takes care of them well with the hope that they can return to their families soon.
Talking about volunteers who used to be Covid-19 patients, Dr. Kieu Quoc Thanh, Head of the Emergency Resuscitation Area of the field hospital to treat Covid-19 No. 4 said, medical staff have been overloaded with work as more patients have been admitted to the hospital every day; subsequently, volunteers can help take better care of seriously ill and elderly patients so that health care workers have more time to focus on treating many other patients.
Dr. Nguyen Tran Nam, deputy director of the field hospital to treat Covid-19 No. 4, said that in the past time, this infirmary has received a lot of support from former Covid-19 patients.
Some people who have been discharged from the hospital and asymptomatic and completely healthy patients have volunteered to care for other serious patients. Besides, because they used to be infected people, they can sympathize with and easily support serious patient's activities, giving both psychological and medical support.
Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Hoai Nam shared that the immune systems of people who recovered from Covid-19 had durable memories of the virus up to eight months after infection; therefore, former Covid-19 recoveries are a very valuable source of labor in infirmaries.
According to him, recovered people can do cleaning and spray disinfectant in each room as well as assist nurses in the treatment area so that medical staff can focus on treating patients.
Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son yesterday sent a letter to patients who have recovered from Covid-19 calling on them to join hands in the fight against the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City.
Mr. Son said in his letter that if former patients feel adequately healthy and wish to join hands in the fight against Covid-19, they can register to participate in the battle at the city Department of Health’s personnel division at 028.39309967 or 0907.574.269.
Medical workers will assess recovered patients’ level of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus through rapid tests and arrange the best possible working conditions for these special patients.

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