According to Tang Chi Thuong, the director of the HCMC Department of Health, preparations have been completed for the reactivation of the last Covid-19 field hospital in the southern metropolis. This facility can be ready within a span of 48 hours in case there is a resurgence of the pandemic.
With the exclusion of Covid-19 from group A, which comprises Vietnam's list of highly contagious diseases with rapid and extensive spread, along with severe mortality rates or unknown origins, Thuong stated that the health department will now relocate the equipment from the field hospital to other medical facilities within the city.
In the last year, the field hospital located in Binh Chanh District has remained devoid of patients, leading to the redistribution of a majority of its equipment to operational hospitals.
After a construction period of two months, the field hospital commenced its operations in August 2021. The facility boasted an impressive capacity with approximately 3,500 beds, including a dedicated Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with 500 beds.
At the peak of the pandemic in HCMC, the city took proactive measures by setting up 15 field hospitals dedicated to isolating and providing medical care for individuals affected by Covid-19.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha recently made a decision that resulted in the removal of Covid-19 from group A, a category that previously included highly contagious diseases such as H5N1, various forms of plague, smallpox, and cholera.
In the past four years, Vietnam has reported an alarming number of over 11.6 million cases of Covid-19.
In the novel coronavirus pandemic, the number of fatalities has surpassed 43,000 individuals, which represents approximately 0.4% of the total reported cases. Notably, the mortality rate of the disease has steadily declined over time, decreasing from 1.86% in 2021 to 0.1% in 2022 and further dropping to a mere 0.02% within the initial eight months of the current year.
The Covid-19 cases in the current year have significantly reduced to just one-twelfth of the cases reported in 2021, and a mere one-sixty-eighth when compared to 2022.
