The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) July 8 said the city recorded nearly 8,400 cases of Covid-19 since the fourth wave of coronavirus from April 27 to now announced by the Ministry of Health.
HCMC will apply stricter measures to control coronavirus epidemic
During two days from July 7 to July 8, the city has reported 1,284 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2; most of them in isolation and blocked areas including 210 people undergoing screening at hospitals and 573 cases under investigation for additional information.
More and more people have been discovered to have the disease while being examined in medical infirmaries daily proving that the pathogen is already present throughout the city; plus, Covid-19 cases in the blocked area have been increasing rapidly, the city needs to take more drastic measures to control the disease.
According to the HCDC, the fast-spreading Delta strain is responsible for a high number of community infections in Vietnam's ongoing Covid-19 wave, making it hard to control. The contagious Delta variant, or B.1.167.2, first detected in India, fast spread in families, motels, non-ventilated or poorly ventilated office buildings. The Delta variant, meanwhile, is said to be 40-60 percent more transmissible than the Alpha.
Worse, the rate of secondary infection, or contacts F1 of Delta variant infections becoming infected people is also higher than that of Alpha variant infections. Studies have also shown that cases of Delta variant can be more infectious and longer-lasting.
The city is currently strengthening testing, tracing, and isolation measures to find the source of infection. In addition, the city health sector has been making epidemiological maps of outbreaks, classifying high-risk areas in districts to collect samples for testing.
Last but not least, the health sector has carried out epidemiological investigations for rapid tracing of infected cases and transferring contacts F1 to concentrated isolation facilities.
According to the plan, the city will utilize rapid antigen testing for all city dwellers with about 200,000 tests a day. Medical centers will base on the local epidemic situation for a proposal of rapid antigen testing to the City Center for Disease Control which will provide medical tests immediately.
Health care workers will conduct rapid tests in industrial parks which will be paid for by enterprises. Along with that, the city health sector will carry out tests in high-risk areas to eliminate the source of transmission in the community. Residents in areas under lockdown must undergo tests every 2-3 days while their peers in high-risk areas will have tests every 5-7 days.
The city has expanded the city's concentrated isolation area with 30,000 beds. Districts, districts and Thu Duc city planned to increase 300-400 beds in isolation camps according to the requirements of the Ministry of Health and the City People's Committee. Local administrations in districts should focus on opening more isolation facilities in each district.
Importantly, the health sector must focus on preventing cross-infection in the centralized isolation areas to limit the number of patients to avoid patient overload in hospitals.
The city's health sector proposed to isolate contacts F1 for 14 days in centralized quarantine camps and monitor health at home for the next 14 days. The southern metropolis will pilot home isolation of contacts F1 according to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines and practical conditions of localities.
The city continues a 20,000-bed treatment plan, ensuring enough doctors and nurses, and medical equipment. Approximately 500 doctors including 80 doctors specializing in emergency resuscitation and 1,500 nurses, technicians from large hospitals for Covid-19 treatment at hospitals at the city gateways.
Regarding vaccination against Coronavirus, according to HCDC, some 985,077 people have been inoculated; and 943,215 people of them received one Covid-19 jab and some 41,862 received two jabs. The city is striving to achieve herd immunity.
Currently, the city has a plan for the fifth round of vaccination with 100,000 doses allocated by the Ministry of Health. Districts and Thu Duc city will organize vaccination based on the list of priority groups according to Decree No. decision 21.
According to HCDC, from June 22 to now, the city has recorded more than 9,000 cases recorded in 17 days, an average of 543 cases per day. Therefore, the Prime Minister accepted that the city will implement Directive No. 16 from 0:00 on July 9 to reduce the rapid spread of coronavirus
More than two people are not allowed to gather in public places. People should not go out except for the purchase of food and other essential supplies. Restriction on travel will be imposed from the southern city to other provinces and cities in order to contain the disease spread.
