Doctors at Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City treat a patient with COVID-19. Photo courtesy of the hospital

HCM CITY — Patients with locally acquired COVID-19 showing no symptoms, and with no underlying disease or obesity, will now be under a 14-day home quarantine, according to new guidelines released by the HCM City Department of Health on Thursday.

New COVID-19 cases with manageable underlying diseases will also be quarantined at home for 14 days.

The new guidelines aim to reduce the overload of COVID-19 patients at healthcare facilities and increase the quality of treatment for COVID-19 patients with moderate and severe symptoms in hospitals. 

A COVID-19 patient under home quarantine must have a separate room with windows as well as a separate toilet, a trash can with closed lid, and trash bags.

Separate rooms are not required if members in a family are all COVID-19 patients.

Food and essential supplies must be put on a table placed in front of the patient’s separate room.

Hand sanitiser and disinfectants for surfaces, salt water for gargling, medical masks, thermometer, fever medicine, and vitamins should be available in the quarantine room.

COVID-19 patients under home quarantine are required to always wear medical masks except when eating, drinking and washing. Masks are changed twice a day. Patients must wash hands thoroughly with soap and water or alcohol-based disinfectant before handling the masks.

Their temperature must be measured at least twice a day and a health declaration must be made at least once a day via the electronic health declaration application.

They need to eat nutritious food, drink a lot of water, exercise gently and do breathing exercises for at least 15 minutes daily.

They must call local medical workers if they have a fever of more than 38°C, cough, sore throat, diarrhoea, loss of taste or smell, chest pain or breathing difficulty (unable to take a breath and hold it for 10 seconds).

The district health centre will come to their home to take samples for testing after 14 days. The patient will end the home quarantine if the testing results are negative.

HCM City urges vaccinations for 62,000 shippers

Shippers are an important link in big cities’ supply chains. Photo courtesy of baomoi.com

 The HCM City Department of Industry and Trade has asked the city Health Department to prioritise 62,000 shippers for vaccinations.

The director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, Bùi Tá Hoàng Vũ, said the department had compiled a list of shippers and sent it to the Department of Health, along with People’s Committees of districts and Thủ Đức City for vaccinations.

There are 16 units with about 62,000 drivers included on the list, including shippers from Grab, Now, Beamin and Gojek delivery applications. 

Drivers of e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada are also on the vaccination list.

Recently, a series of ride-hailing applications sought  permission for shippers from the city as they are an important link of the supply chain, especially in big cities.

On the afternoon of July 27, about 1,500 Grab drivers received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at five injection points in District 7. This was the first major vaccination series targeted at shippers from ride-hailing apps.

Dr Bùi Thị Thu Hương from Việt Nga Eye Hospital in HCM City, who was in charge of one of the five injection points in District 7, said that in addition to shippers, many store employees and pharmacy staff were vaccinated.

"It is crucial that they be vaccinated as they are at high risk of COVID-19 infection," she added. - VNS