According to a health official in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, it is too early to consider COVID-19 as a seasonal flu, so local residents must continue to adhere to measures to prevent and fight the pandemic.
Vietnam’s largest business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, provides treatment to 739 COVID-19 patients, of whom 38 are under 16, 72 need respiratory assistance and 12 need life support outside the body, Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai , head of the municipal health ministry, said at a meeting on Feb. 14, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
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The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the metropolis has remained low for the past seven days, adding that the death toll has fallen to zero on several days, the health official said.
However, it is still early to see COVID-19 as a seasonal flu, the health official stressed.
“We have yet to fully understand the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic,” Mai said.
She called on local residents to adhere to measures to prevent and combat the pandemic.
It is also too early to conclude that the virus is not causing serious symptoms in children, although no deaths from COVID-19 among children have been documented in the city.
Parents and health professionals should pay more attention to young patients with malnutrition, obesity and serious underlying conditions, Mai emphasized.
The health official also encouraged parents to vaccinate their children and ensure they follow all pandemic response protocols.
Ho Chi Minh City has documented more than 516,000 local infections since the fourth wave of virus hit Vietnam last April.
The city has recorded daily jumps of less than 300 cases in the past week.
Health professionals in the city of nine million have administered 8.1 million first vaccine doses, nearly 7.3 million second injections and 4.6 million third injections, according to the Tuoi Tre News.
