HCM City plans acute respiratory disease hospitals to cope with novel coronavirus
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has underlined the need to build acute respiratory disease hospitals in response to the disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV).
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (centre) speaks at the meeting on February 3 (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – Secretary of the Ho Chi MinhCity Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has underlined the need to build acute respiratory disease hospitals in response to the disease caused by the 2019 novelcoronavirus (nCoV).
At a meeting on the nCoV prevention and controlon February 3, he asked relevant sides to consider the locations and sizes ofsuch hospitals to match the disease situation and ensure their efficient operation.
He suggested that at first, an acute respiratory disease hospitalwith about 200 – 250 beds should be built in the next two weeks, and anotherset up if risks escalate.
According to the draft plan of the municipalPeople’s Committee, acute respiratory disease hospitals will be put into use if there are more than500 nCoV cases in the city at the same time, which might be beyond the capacityof isolation wards of local hospitals.
In case the number of infected cases surpassesacute respiratory disease hospitals’ capacity, the Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital should be transformedinto the one specialising in receiving nCoV patients.
The municipal Department of Health said by theend of February 2, the city had recorded three nCoV cases, 12 tested negativefor the virus, and 15 put under health quarantine as they had had close contactwith the infected people.
Department Director Nguyen Tan Binh said with a highpopulation density and great frequency of trading and travelling activitieswith Vietnamese localities and countries around the world, HCM City faces high risksof nCoV infection and spreading.
Meanwhile, as the disease has a long incubationperiod and the time needed to travel from nCoV-hit areas to the city is veryshort (only several hours), the possibility of detecting infected cases atpoints of entry is limited, he noted.
At the meeting, Nhan asked authorities topromptly carry out solutions to contain the virus spread, including temporarilyisolating people from nCoV-affected areas and increasing communications toraise public awareness of disease prevention./.
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Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (centre) speaks at the meeting on February 3 (Photo: VNA) 
