A healthcare worker is fumigating an infection place
Yesterday evening, an urgent meeting on measures against the Covid-19 epidemic in HCMC presided by Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long aimed to assess the epidemic situation in the big city, southern provinces, and cities and preventative solutions in the coming time.
The Ministry of Health will continue to mobilize medical staff for field hospitals who will be responsible for taking samples for screening tests. The Ministry of Health planned to set up 24 mission teams for Thu Duc City and all districts in Ho Chi Minh City to help to control the epidemic situation. Presently, more than 3,300 doctors and nurses from infirmaries nationwide have arrived in the big city.
At the meeting, the Minister of Health stated that in order to deal with the complicated developments of the epidemic, all appropriate scenarios and response plans must be prepared for the disease's spread. The Minister of Health called for health workers’ participation in the fight against the epidemic in the city and southern provinces.
Regarding testing, meeting participants agreed to provide more biological products and medical machines, and equipment for the city in the battle against the fatal virus. Policy-makers should necessarily review the regulations creating favorable conditions for the import of biological test products into Vietnam. Moreover, the production of rapid test kits in the country must be pushed up.
Regarding the testing strategy, the Minister of Health stated that residents in the epidemic core and blockade areas must undergo rapid screening every three days while their peers in high-risk areas must undergo tests every seven days.
Community surveillance and surveillance of all cases of medical examination and treatment at medical facilities must be focused to detect cases early for isolation, tracing measures in other districts. The Ministry requested localities to continue to prepare biological products and increase testing capacity to serve epidemic prevention in the coming time.
Concerning treatment, the Ministry directed provinces and cities to set up Intensive Resuscitation Centers (ICUs) for severe Covid-19 patients; and at the same time set up 2 ICU centers in the Southern Province of Dong Nai for the southeast region and in Can Tho for the Mekong Delta region to treat critically ill patients.
The Ministry of Health is also developing scenarios for the worst situations and reviewing all equipment, ventilators, cardiopulmonary machines (ECMO), high-flow oxygen ventilators, drugs, chemicals, medical equipment in case there is a drastic increase in Covid-19 cases.
