A medical worker prepares to take swab samples from workers at Bac Giang's
Quang Chau industrial park for Covid-19 testing, May 15, 2021.
Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

A 38-year-old worker at an industrial park in the northern province of Bac Giang became Vietnam's 44th coronavirus death Monday.

The woman had shown classic Covid symptoms like fever, coughing and fatigue, and was admitted to the Yen Dung District medical center in Bac Giang on May 17.

Five days after her admittance, she developed respiratory failure and was transferred to the Bac Giang General Hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia due to Covid-19 and respiratory failure complications.

She was supplied with oxygen and treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Her condition worsened on May 23. X-ray scans revealed that her lungs had been extensively damaged, requiring highly concentrated oxygen supply.

Over the following hours, her condition continued to worsen and she did not respond well to treatments. She died on Monday morning.

Her causes of death were pneumonia due to Covid-19, septic shock and advanced respiratory failure complications, the Ministry of Health said.

Bac Giang currently leads in community Covid-19 counts of the new wave, at 980 cases. The province, housing several large-scale industrial zones which employ thousands of workers , have shut down four such zones as they became coronavirus hotspots.

The nation has recorded nine coronavirus deaths in the new wave since late last month. Seven of them died at Hanoi's National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, a frontline hospital for the Covid-19 fight. One of its branches in Dong Anh District has been locked down since May 5 as it was revealed to be a major coronavirus hotspot.

During the second wave in Da Nang in July and August last year, the country had recorded 35 coronavirus deaths.