A medical worker takes a sample of a resident in Hà Nội's Hai Bà Trưng District for COVID-19 testing. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People's Committee has issued a plan to provide enough medical oxygen for a scenario in which the number of COVID-19 patients in the city reaches 40,000.

The move aims at ensuring adequate medical oxygen for hospitals and medical facilities under the management of the city's Department of Health (DoH) and using resources in the treatment of patients reasonably, economically, and effectively.

The plan is implemented in three phases, responding to scenarios in which the number of COVID-19 patients hits 10,000, 20,000, and 40,000, respectively.

The patients are classified in line with the severity of the disease based on the Ministry of Health's guidance. They are asymptomatic patients with mild (83.6 per cent) and moderate levels (7 per cent), severe patients needing oxygen (3.8 per cent) and very severe patients needing invasive and non-invasive ventilation (3.6 per cent), and critical patients and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) intervention (2 per cent).

Therefore, there will be 3,120 patients requiring medical oxygen (9.4 per cent) if the number of coronavirus infections is up to 40,000.

The treatment facilities will be divided in accordance with the disease severity. There will be establishments that care for moderate patients, severe and critical patients requiring intensive care treatment as well as those that treat mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.

To carry out the plan effectively, it is necessary to involve the entire political system, relevant departments, agencies, and units. There should be close coordination between forces to assure the capacity to store medical oxygen, supply and transport of the oxygen to the hospitals and medical facilities under the management of the DoH. — VNS