Most of the cases were detected in time by the hospitals, but some medical facilities detected patients later, leading to the spread of pathogens in the hospital.

Recently, many hospitals in the city have been locked down for certain periods, such as the Tan Phu District Hospital, Saigon South Hospital, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital and Saigon General Hospital.

Hospitals in HCM City are facing difficulties due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant. The Department of Health has asked all hospitals to strictly implement solutions set by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health.

The HCMC Department of Health asked hospitals to conduct Covid-19 tests using the RT-PCR method for all caregivers and those who visit the hospitals for medical checkups, apart from conducting Covid-19 screening and checking the body temperature of outpatients.

The department also asked hospitals to prepare sufficient facilities for the health declaration and screening areas and separate them from their departments.

In addition, people who are hospitalized must temporarily quarantine at hospitals and wait for their RT-PCR test results before being transferred to the departments for inpatients.

Further, hospitals should regularly conduct Covid-19 tests for their employees to prevent the potential spread of Covid-19, the local media reported.

The city has planned to conduct COVID-19 testing for one million aggregate samples per day, with a hope to control the pandemic before July 10.

An urgent action programme to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic from now until July 10 has been announced by the municipal authorities.

Apart from increasing the testing, every effort will be exerted to trace, zone off and stamp out the pandemic while attention will be paid to strictly controlling quarantine sites to minimise cross-infection risks.

Large-scale sample collection and narrow-scale lockdown will be conducted in areas where COVID-19 infections were confirmed. Test results in these areas are expected to be confirmed within 12 hours.

The local authorities have also prepared a response scenario for treatment of 10,000 infections. The city’s health sector has prepared oxygen reserves, medical supplies and equipment serving the work.

Regarding the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, the municipal authorities are urgently working with partners and negotiating with vaccine manufacturers to accelerate the purchase and import of vaccines, so that the city can receive the first vaccine batch at the end of the third quarter.

The city has set to give vaccinations to two-thirds of its population in late 2021.

As of July 2 morning, HCM City recorded 4,422 COVID-19 infections.

Tu Anh

With over 3,000 Covid-19 cases, HCM City vows to control outbreak by end of social distancing period

Despite drastic measures, the Covid-19 outbreak developments in HCM City remain complicated. The enforced social distancing period will end on June 30 and it has been difficult for the city to decide whether to extend the period.