"Patient 91," a 43-year-old British man working as a pilot for national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, was disconnected from the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine with stable blood pressure and pulse, a representative of Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said Wednesday.

This ended 57 days of ECMO treatment for the patient. He still needs to use a ventilator, but his liver and kidney functions have returned to normal, and his lung infections has improved.

Luong Ngoc Khue, deputy head of the Subcommittee for the Prevention and Treatment of Covid-19, said that the patient’s condition was still severe. It will take weeks for him to be able to function free of the ventilator and recover movement, he said.

Doctors will continue to use antibiotics to treat his infections and have him undergo physical therapy to recover his muscle and respiratory functions.

The patient was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus on March 18. His condition worsened and he slipped into a coma for over two months.

He was declared free of the novel coronavirus on May 20 after seven negative tests in a row, and transferred from the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases to Cho Ray Hospital for further treatment.

Vietnam has confirmed 328 Covid-19 cases so far, of whom 302 have recovered, leaving 26 active cases.