Doctors at Bình Thạnh No.1 Field Hospital in HCM City treat COVID-19 patients. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Health on Thursday asked all public hospitals in the city to set aside at least 10 per cent of hospital beds for treatment of COVID-19 patients amid a surge in hospitalisations and deaths and the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Hospitals in the city have been asked to prepare medicine and medical devices for the clinical management of COVID-19.

Designated isolation areas at hospitals are being shifted to COVID-19 treatment units, the department said in a document sent to leaders of hospitals.

Hospitals have also been asked to restructure their operation to make it fit with requirements for COVID-19 treatment, and maintain health check-ups and treatment for other diseases.

Tier-one general hospitals and specialised hospitals in pediatrics and infectious diseases have been asked to set up COVID-19 intensive care units to treat severe cases. A COVID-19 department should be established at these hospitals, it said.

The department has designated nine major hospitals in the city to receive severe cases from lower-tier hospitals, including Chợ Rẫy, Thống Nhất, HCM City Medical University, Huế Central Hospital in HCM City, Gia Định People, People 115, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, 175 Military Hospital, and Phước Lộc field hospital.

Four hospitals - Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Trưng Vương, An Bình and Củ Chi District hospitals - which fully shifted to COVID-19 treatment have maintained operation since the city lifted the lockdown on October 1.

Six hospitals which partly shifted to COVID-19 treatment, including Municipal Children Hospital, Eastern People Military Hospital, and Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Từ Dũ, Hùng Vương and Nguyễn Tri Phương hospitals, have also maintained operation.

These 10 hospitals are operating with 4,300 beds set aside for COVID-19 patients.

Thirteen city-level field hospitals with 22,000 beds, 16 district-level field hospitals with 8,000 beds, and 65 health facilities with 9,000 beds in the city are offering COVID-19 treatment.

The Department of Health has asked hospital leaders to allocate medical workers to provide health care and treatment for COVID-19 patients.

A total of 86,000 people with COVID-19 are under quarantine and treatment in the city, including more than 66,000 people receiving home-based care.

More than 14,000 patients with moderate and severe symptoms are being treated at hospitals in the city. — VNS