Severe COVID cases at a field hospital in Thủ Đức City last October during the fourth way of outbreak in 2021. — VNA/VNS Photo

The HCM City Department of Health has required all hospitals, medical centres and facilities to step up action to prevent a possible COVID-19 outbreak as the city has recorded a recent surge in cases, including severe cases requiring hospitalisation.

Hospitals and clinics are asked to review human resources, medical equipment and supplies to be ready to receive patients for treatment, especially severe and critical cases.

It is vital to detect suspected cases for isolation and treatment in a timely manner to limit the spread.

The HCM City Centre for Disease Control (HCDC) will need to enhance surveillance to promptly forecast the pandemic situation.

Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh Châu, deputy director of the health department, said a combination of effective public health measures, behaviour change, and vaccination is all needed to prevent transmission.

“A lack of awareness, insufficient public health measures along with low coverage of booster shots have all contributed to a possible outbreak,” he said.

The city will speed up vaccination, especially for children, he noted.

“Some parents are not fully aware of the importance of vaccination for children as they are afraid of its possible side effects.”

It will continue to provide boosters to all health workers, elderly people, and others at highest risk.

The health sector has lately launched mobile vaccination sites at schools, hospitals, health centres and medical stations.

It also plans to reactivate field hospitals in case of a continued hike in cases.

The HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases plans to prepare human resources, including doctors and nurses, to activate a field hospital. It also develops scenarios for pandemic prevention.

Cases are set to conitnue to rise in the city with an average number of 164 cases per day for the past week compared to 127 in the previous week.

The city of 10 million recorded more than 1,100 cases over the past week, up 258 cases from the previous week.

The number of severe cases requiring hospitalisation have also been on the rise in August with an average 64 cases per day, compared to only a few to 30 cases per day in July.

More than 250 patients are being treated at city hospitals, 80 of them are severe cases requiring respiratory assistance.

Most cases on ventilators are in the high-risk group such as older people, people with underlying conditions and those who have not been fully inoculated.

COVID threat to public health

The highly contagious A.5 variant has become the dominant strain in the city.

Experts have warned while COVID remains a major threat to public health, the city is also facing a dengue fever outbreak, which could result in an overload of the system.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called it a “tragic milestone”, saying the world has recorded one million COVID-related deaths so far this year.

It has urged all nations to step up action to vaccinate all medical staff, older people and others at high risk with an aim of vaccinating 70 per cent of the world population.

In Việt Nam, more than 82 per cent of the population (95 million) have been fully inoculated while nearly 64 per cent have received the third dose.

The Southeast Asian nation has recorded some 11.4 million infections, including 43,000 deaths, since the beginning of the outbreak.

HCM City was the pandemic hotspot during the fourth wave last year. The country’s largest city has had more than 618,000 infections, including 20,000 deaths. — VNS