Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long asked relevant units to establish three COVID-19 field hospitals in the northern province of Hai Duong.
Three new COVID-19 field hospitals will solely serve for Hai Duong, where 77 community infection cases with the new highly contagious variant of coronavirus were confirmed over the past two days.
At a virtual meeting with the health departments and a number of hospitals in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, Long requested an oversupply of medical equipment for the three hospitals to serve the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Accordingly, the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases is tasked with setting up the first COVID-19 treatment hospital at the Chi Linh Medical Centre in Chi Linh City which has been locked down for 21 days due to the new coronavirus cluster. Modern equipment will be transported to this hospital for the establishment of an intensive care unit.
The Bach Mai Hospital of Hanoi, the biggest in the entire northern region, is in charge of opening the second hospital within the Hai Duong Medical Technical University.
Meanwhile, the third hospital will be placed at the Hai Duong sports stadium, receiving all of the equipment used for a similar hospital built at the central city of Da Nang’s Tien Son sports center when the city was hit by a severe COVID-19 outbreak in July and August last year, which resulted in 35 deaths – the only ones the country has seen to date since the beginning of the pandemic as the clusters centered on some of the city’s major hospitals.
Regarding human resources for these hospitals, the minister directed experienced medical staff from Da Nang, who engaged in tackling the city’s past outbreak, to go to Hai Duong to offer their support.
The Ministry of Health is sparing no efforts in curbing the current outbreak with maximum assistance from the central administration, he stressed.
Long also requested that all passengers traveling via the Van Don International Airport (also shut down for 15 days) in Quang Ninh Province and Chi Linh City in Hai Duong since January 15 must contact medical agencies to perform COVID-19 tests and go into self-isolation.