A man gets a COVID-19 vaccination shot at the District 3 Medical Centre in HCM City on January 31.(Photo: VNA)Health authorities had a “thoughtful” plan for potentialCOVID-19 outbreaks since a huge number of people were travelling duringthe period, Dr Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the department, said.
The city operated field hospital No 13 to provide treatment toCOVID-19 patients as part of the response plan, he told a meeting hisdepartment held with the Ministry of Health on January 31 in HCM City.
The HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases closely coordinatedwith the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit for surveillance ofSARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID, he said.
Nguyen Thanh Dung, Director of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases,said the hospital’s Department of Infectious Diseases D, which receivespatients critically ill with COVID from other medical facilities in the city,saw a decline in admissions during Tet.
It treated 17 during the holidays and now only three remain. “Itis a very optimistic sign for the COVID-19 situation in the city,” he said
However, the number of dengue fever cases was high, with nearly300 of them coming to the hospital last week, including 79 children, he said.
Luong Chan Quang, deputy head of the HCM City Pasteur Institute’sdepartment of diseases control and prevention, said the COVID-19 response planfocused on high-risk residents, including seniors and people with underlyingmedical conditions.
"Disease surveillance in the community remains crucial,"he added.
"The HCM City Pasteur Institute and HCM City Hospital forTropical Diseases are capable of early detection of new mutations and variantsthrough whole-genome sequencing," he said.
The city’s authorities needed to step up communications campaignsfor providing COVID booster vaccines, he added./.
VNA
