According to Doctor Nguyen Danh Cuong, deputy head of Emergency Department and Stroke Unit at the National Geriatric Hospital in Hanoi, these days, the ward is receiving around 50-60 patients per day compared to just 30-40 earlier. Most of them are in critical conditions and need to be hospitalised.
Bone-chilling cold weather leads to higher hospital cases.
The patient surge is due to the on-going cold wave in the north, Cuong said, adding that people are facing the high risk of strokes in the cold weather, particularly those suffering high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
Up to one third of the ward’s patients are facing strokes, while the remainder is those contracting other respiratory and heart diseases.
The ward has only six doctors and 30 nurses who have to work very hard these days because of the rise in the patient numbers.
The northern region of Vietnam is undergoing a very strong cold snap as temperatures in many localities have dropped to below 10 degrees centigrade. Several mountainous areas such as Sapa and Mau Son have even reported frost and snow.