, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee (centre), inspects hospitals and instructs them to tighten COVID-19 preventive measures since they are high-risk areas. (Photo: VNA) HCM
City (VNS/VNA) – There have been no more cases of COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh
City since one person was diagnosed with it at Tan Son Nhat Airport in
February, but the city and Department
of Health said the risk of an outbreak remains high.
The risk
is from a number of different sources, according to the centre.
HCM
City has many major hospitals that admit patients from other provinces and
cities who cannot be treated in their hometown, and so they are crowded with
patients and their relatives.
Cho
Ray Hospital, for instance, admits nearly 6,000 patients from elsewhere each
day.
Speaking
at a meeting with a city inspection team led by Chairman of the People’s
Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong on May 10, the hospital’s director Dr Nguyen Tri
Thuc said Cho Ray faced a high risk of COVID transmission.
The
biggest threat was in its emergency ward which admits around 350 patients
daily, he said.
To
ensure safety, the hospital tests all patients who have symptoms related to the
respiratory tract like cough and fever for COVID.
Those
coming without relatives are presumed to be COVID patients, and the medical
staff strictly comply with preventive measures.
The
hospital also requires everyone to fill an online health declaration form when
entering.
It
has nearly 200 staff standing in for patients’ relatives to give care, and they
are also regarded as a transmission risk, and the management keeps them under
close surveillance and tests them for COVID.
Phong
instructed the hospital to prepare scenarios for admitting a large number of
very sick patients simultaneously.
People’s
Hospital 115, another major medical centre, admits nearly 3,000 patients daily.
It has set up a COVID screening area well away from the rest of its facilities
to reduce the risk of transmission.
Quarantine areas
Speaking
at a meeting of the city Steering Committee for Prevention and Control
on May 10, Phong said the risk of transmission in the city’s numerous
quarantine facilities is very high, and threatens community spread if
preventive measures are not carried out scrupulously. “People
there should strictly comply with protocols to prevent transmission.”
Authorities
should monitor the health of people who have returned from quarantine
facilities since they could still spread infection despite testing negative for
COVID three times, he said.
“Each
district needs to maintain one quarantine area with at least 20 beds expandable
to 50 beds within 24 days.”
Pointing
out the city has more than 19,000 community-based COVID-prevention teams, he
said local health officials should utilise them to detect illegal immigrants
and contact trace people who come into close contact with patients.
High risk at ports
Speaking
at a meeting between the Department of Health, Maritime Administration of HCM
City and other relevant agencies last week, Dr Nguyen Tri Dung, head of the
city Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the transmission risk at
ports is not unlike at the airport.
The
city has one airport and nearly 60 ports.
Foreign
ships that arrive after docking in other countries could have infected crew
members, he warned.
Ships
should be regarded as quarantine areas, and there should be strict surveillance
of people entering and leaving them, and all people should comply with
preventive measures and fill health declaration forms, he added.
Ngo
Quang Hung, deputy director of the Maritime Administration of HCM City, said
close collaboration between agencies and enterprises operating at ports and
border guards is imperative to keep an eye on people embarking and disembarking
from ships.
Ports
that fail to adopt COVID prevention measures should not be allowed to dock
ships, he said.
Nguyen
Tan Binh, head of the department, said three crew members of the MD SUN that
docked at Phuoc Long Depot No.5 in Nha Be district tested positive for the
disease.
Phong
said COVID prevention teams should strengthen communication to help limit
contacts between ship crews and people living around ports and depots.
He
instructed the Department of Health to build field hospitals with 5,000 beds to
prepare for a scenario where 30,000 are infected as required by Prime Minister
Pham Minh Chinh.
The
city has sufficient test kits for 15,000 samples within 24 hours if needed.
The
city has modelled various COVID scenarios, and four more quarantine areas with
a total of more than 10,000 beds are being built
now./.
Source: VietnamPlus
