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Inside of the No. 13 field hospital |
The Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City assigned the city Hospital for Tropical Diseases to prepare medical workers, supplies and medical equipment for the operation of the No. 13 field hospital within 24 hours.
The city Department of Health said that it had just requested public and non-public hospitals; Emergency Center 115; the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC); medical centers in districts and Thu Duc City on readying all resources to receive, collect and treat people with Covid-19.
According to Director of the Health Department of Ho Chi Minh City Associate Professor Tang Chi Thuong, the Department of Health assigned HCDC to maintain public health surveillance activities to detect new sub-variants, even during Tet holidays; moreover, HCDC should collaborate with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) to continue to take samples in the community and in the hospital to perform gene sequencing and detect new variants of Omicron.
Hospitals and medical centers were urged to review their conditions, ensuring the collection and treatment of Covid-19 as well as organizing the training and re-training medical staff on treatment guidelines of emergency resuscitation, and healthcare-associated infections. Plus, infirmaries should practice drills for the admission of Covid-19 patients.
In addition, medical facilities should come up with a plan to send doctors and nurses to work in the No. 13 Field Hospital when the Department of Health has mobilized; at the same time, emergency vehicles must be in a ready state to transfer severe cases to the No. 13 field hospital.
The Department of Health assigned the Hospital for Tropical Diseases to prepare professional personnel, supplies and medical equipment to operate the No. 13 Field Hospital within 24 hours after it was activated.
The 115 Emergency Center should coordinate with hospitals to ensure the transport of severe Covid-19 cases from small healthcare establishments or from the community to the No. 13 field hospital.
Last week, the southern metropolis recorded 39 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection announced by the Ministry of Health including 17 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 by RealTime RT-PCR technique, 22 positive cases for epidemiological factors. There are no imported cases.
The Department of Health's special working group on coordination of severe and critical Covid-19 patients reported to the Department of Health's Board of Directors that the bad development of the Covid-19 epidemic with more cases. The Covid-19 department of the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases has used up all 50 beds while the Covid-19 treatment departments/units of Ho Chi Minh City's general and specialized hospitals have also been using nearly 50 percent of hospital bed capacity. Luckily, there have been no deaths so far.
Accordingly, the Board of Directors of the Department of Health immediately convened the Ho Chi Minh City Health Sector Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control for the reactivation of the No. 13 field hospital to collect and treat severe Covid-19 cases.
