A man loses his wife

Part I:

A MAN

LOSES HIS WIFE

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“I took her to hospital. Doctors said COVID-19 had seriously damaged her lungs. Two days later she passed away".

For more than a decade Mr. Hai and his wife had made a living from selling noodles and groceries in this small alley.

They were migrant workers from Soc Trang who came to Ho Chi Minh City looking for a livelihood. Soc Trang is a poor Mekong Delta province located about 230 km away from the southern metropolis.

Each day, Mrs. Hai woke up early to prepare food to go on sale in the morning.

But on the morning of August 18, 2021, no one saw Mrs. Hai get up and prepare for the new working day.

Mr. Hai instead took her to a small clinic in District 7

where she tested positive for COVID-19.

Upon hearing the bad news, Mrs. Hai’s face went as red as blood.

She requested to be allowed go home to get some things and then lay down in the hammock in front of her house.

COVID-19 map in Ho Chi Minh city in 2021

August 18, 2021, was the day that saw Ho Chi Minh City record nearly 4,000 new infections and more than 250 deaths.

Given the COVID-19 complications with thousands of infections being documented every day, Ho Chi Minh City deployed a treatment programme specifically for F0 cases at home.

Mrs. Hai was one of the COVID-19 patients who chose to be treated at home.

Mrs. Hai tried to stand up, but she lacked the strength. Mr. Hai quickly helped her sit up again.

During the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City, oxygen suddenly became very expensive and scarce.

As demand exceeded supply, many opportunists raised the average price of an eight-litre bottle to as high as VND5 million.

Originating from the rice ATMs model, many oxygen ATMs stations sponsored by philanthropists were set up throughout the southern city.

These stations even offered free home delivery of oxygen tanks for patients at home.

Mr. Hai phoned one of the oxygen ATM stations to request help.

After a while, three people in blue protective gear rushed to the alley and knocked on his door with an oxygen cylinder in hand.

After receiving oxygen supplies she regained consciousness once again and her husband was once more full of hope.

In the evening, he picked up some lemongrass, lemon, and ginger to boil in a steaming pot. In the past Vietnamese people often used this type of homemade sauna when they suffered from a cold or a stuffy nose. This therapy was popular with COVID-19 patients once again as it was said to help relieve symptoms of the disease.

Mr. Hai brought the steaming pot of mixed herbs and asked his wife to inhale.

An eight-litre bottle of oxygen could help her breathe for four hours. When he asked for the fourth bottle, someone from the other end of the line said the station had run out of oxygen.

Without additional oxygen supplies, Mrs. Hai suffered peripheral cyanosis and was unable to speak anymore.

Someone suggested that he buy a mini oxygen generator. He did not know if such a machine could save his wife’s life, but he did not give up hope, despite how slim it was.

He then searched every corner of the house and found that there was just VND5 million left.

He picked up the phone and called, begging someone on the other end of the line to help. However, demand exceeded supply, and mini oxygen generators were in short supply, with such a device costing up to VND17 million. He was required to place an order in advance if he wanted to get one.

Holding VND5 million in hand, he gallantly travelled the length and breadth of the alley to borrow an additional VND12 million.

Neighbours also offered their help and eventually he finally received enough.

While waiting for the mini oxygen generator to arrive, he carefully gave her some medicine and water to drink.

He had just a few fever tablets and vitamins from a charity pack given to COVID-19 patients, but Mrs. Hai was unable to swallow anymore.

A moment later, two men without protective gear rushed in to install the oxygen machine.

But it was ultimately too late. She breathed for two more hours before passing away.

It was 01:00 on the morning of August 20, 2021.

He covered his wife’s face with a handkerchief and then went out.

Covering the face of the deceased with a veil is a spiritual custom of the Vietnamese people. They believe that such an act would protect the deceased from the sun. The souls of the deceased are thereby preserved until they are reincarnated in another life without being dispersed.

Picking up her phone, he then rang her stepchild. Before marrying him, Mrs. Hai had a husband and a son. Her ex-husband had gambled. After many quarrels, she left and later met Mr. Hai.

At that time, Mr. Hai had just returned from the army and was appointed a member of the commune police.

The couple had never married, nor had any children of their. They had been in a relationship for nearly 20 years.

That day, Mrs. Hai intended to go to Ho Chi Minh City to earn a living so that the couple could have savings to support them when they got old.

Still holding her phone in his hand, he called the local administration and then the funeral home.

The newly-purchased oxygen machine was still humming in the corner of the room while the last oxygen tank he asked for was still standing in front of his house.

The southern city was still enforcing social distancing measures according to the Government’s Directive 16, so Mrs. Hai’s son could not come to pay his final respect to his mother.

Furthermore, a neighbour nearby also died of the virus.

Everyone in the neighbourhood was scared and they did not dare to go out anywhere.

Therefore, Mr. Hai was alone to take care of his wife’s funeral arrangements.

When she was alive, she liked to wear clothes with dotted flowers

and to eat rice paper rolls the most.

Every time he watched TV late, she would yell, “Why aren’t you sleeping now, what are you watching on TV at this time?”

Memories of her kept going through his head.

- She loved me a lot.

He staggered to the door, hurling himself into the hammock where she had once slept.

The following afternoon, five to six people donning thick white protective gear walked into the small alley. Everyone was wearing tightly-fitted masks, so that Mr. Hai could not recognise who was the shaman and who was the coffin-bearers.

They sprayed disinfectant and alcohol all over the house, causing Mr. Hai to cough.

At exactly 1 p.m., the memorial service began and quickly ended.

In the last moment of paying his last respects to his wife, Mr. Hai could only watch from afar.

To avoid infection, Mrs. Hai was wrapped in a body bag and then placed in a coffin. Before closing the lid, he asked the shaman to put her phone in the coffin.

People at the funeral home carried the coffin first, then came Mr. Hai to pay his last tribute to her.

As well as catching COVID-19, Mrs. Hai suffered other underlying illnesses.

Every time she was tired, Mr. Hai took her to a doctor to get some IV fluid.

The alley witnessed them travel back and forth together hundreds of times,

although this was the last time they walked together in front of the house.

At the end of the alley, he was told to stop walking.

Mr. Hai’s alley was in the Red zone because many households there had contracted COVID-19. Iron railings were therefore erected to block the way. People living in the alley were not allowed to go out unless there was an emergency.

Staff at the funeral home took Ms. Hai’s coffin to a parked car that had already been packed with a few other coffins.

The couple then bid farewell to each other through the iron railings as high as the waist of a person.

She said:

“If I die first, you will suffer most.”

The iron gate was then closed.

Her last oxygen tank was still standing in front of their house.

After her death, he only had about VND1 million left in his pocket, along with a dog and two outstanding debts, including expenses for the oxygen machine and his wife’s funeral.

The couple’s story is typical of families who had COVID-19 patients treated at home before passing away.

In August, 2021, Ho Chi Minh City deployed the F0 treatment model at home and assigned it to mobile medical stations to manage.

However, access to these medical stations in areas where many low-income workers were living was extremely limited, especially amid an overload of patients.

The alley where Mr. and Mrs. Hai lived was one such area./.

Learn more: Unforgettable days

A long enough journey for Vietnam to acknowledge the successes, mistakes, experiences and limitations in the fight against the pandemic.