A vaccination site in HCM City.

According to Duc, the second social distancing period under Directive 16 will end on August 15. On August 5-12, the city recorded 3,687 cases of new infection/day on average, most of them in locked down and quarantine areas.

By August 12, the city had 62,986 F0 cases, 32,629 recovered patients, 1,558 severe cases and 16 in critical condition, 10,221 F0 cases without symptoms, and 12,000 F0 cases treated for more than 7 days, who can be quarantined at home. The average daily mortality rate was 241 cases in recent days.

The city is focusing on improving the effectiveness of covid-19 treatment and reducing the mortality rate, said Duc.

To achieve the goals, the city has put into use four resuscitation centers and established five satellite stations to support and coordinate emergency activities.

The Vice Chairman said the epidemic situation is complicated and can last longer, the number of new infection cases is flattening but not sustainable, and the fatalities are still high. The city forecast that after August 15, the daily infection cases will still number 3,000. Without strong measures, the situation will worsen.

Regarding the goal of controlling the epidemic in the city by September 15, as stipulated in Resolution 68 of the Government, Duc said that HCM City had developed an anti-pandemic plan from August 15 to September 15, which will be announced in the media soon.

"Each stage will have specific tasks. We are determined to control the epidemic by September 15," said Duc.

According to Duc, the social distancing measure is the most important. Maintaining and expanding the "green zones" is also an important task. The official emphasized the importance of testing to quickly remove F0s from the community.

The city has vaccinated more than 4.3 million people, including over 100,000 who are fully vaccinated with two doses.

Besides the vaccines allocated by the Ministry of Health, HCM City is seeking other sources of supply. Some partners have committed to donate 200,000-500,000 vaccines doses to the city in August.

Ho Van - Tu Anh

Control of Covid-19 outbreak in HCM City shows positive signs

The epidemic situation in HCM City has shown positive signs as the number of new infection cases has "flattened",