Members of Trần Hưng Đạo Ward's Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control visit a COVID-19 patient's house in Hà Nội. — Photo kinhtedothi.vn

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội’s Hoàn Kiếm District has been treating asymptomatic COVID-19 patients at home, with the model garnering praise from residents.

The model not only helps reduce pressure on local health facilities but also helps with the safe adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 'new normal', the Kinh Tế & Đô Thị (Economics & Urban Affairs) online newspaper reported.

N.T.H, an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient, who lives in Hạ Hồi Alley, Hoàn Kiếm District’s Trần Hưng Đạo Ward, said she and her husband receive health checks by local health staff twice a day via phone.

If there is a problem, I can contact the ward's medical station for immediate help, she added.

“It makes me feel more secure when I self-monitor my health at home,” she said.

It is also convenient for COVID-19 patients who self-monitor at home, because the ward's community-based COVID-19 prevention group helps bring necessities to the patients' houses, she said.

N.T.C, another asymptomatic patient in the area, who is also allowed to self-monitor at home, said the head of the ward’s medical station calls her twice a day to get updates on her condition.

She also receives support from the ward's community-based COVID-19 prevention group if needed.

"So, it's quite convenient when I self-monitor at home," she said.

Phạm Thị Mai Hoa, head of the ward’s medical station, said the city’s Department of Health issued specific instructions for both medical staff and patients about the treatment process at home.

Therefore, the operation of the model is convenient and effective, she said.

Hoa said the role of the community-based COVID-19 prevention group and the team, who support medical staff to monitor COVID-19 patients at home, is very important to operate the model effectively.

The members of the group and the team are the people who know the local people best, she said.

“When they ask about the health of the COVID-19 patients, the patients will feel more secure,” she said.

Based on the information they get about the patients’ developments, the ward’s medical station will implement suitable treatment for each patient, she said.

In Hàng Gai Ward, Nguyễn Mạnh Linh, chairman of the People’s Committee of the ward, said COVID-19 patients, who are elderly and have underlying diseases, will be transferred to a hospital or medical station while asymptomatic patients, who meet the requirements prescribed by the health department, are allowed to self-monitor at home.

The ward’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has arranged medical staff to make a list of COVID-19 patients who are allowed to self-monitor at home, and visit the patients’ houses twice a day to check their health and adjust treatment for the patients, he said.

Linh said the patients who are allowed to self-monitor at home have seriously followed the instructions of the medical staff, ensuring the model of treating asymptomatic patients at home was effective.

Nguyễn Quốc Hoàn, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of the district, said after receiving direction from the city’s health department about the model, the committee told wards to quickly make a list of households that meet requirements to allow asymptomatic patients to self-monitor at home.

The committee ordered all wards to immediately set up teams to support medical staff to monitor COVID-19 patients at home, he said.

The team is assigned to send a daily report to the ward’s Steering Committee for Disease Prevention and Control so that the committee could implement suitable treatments for each patient depending on their circumstances, he said.

The district uses software to monitor COVID-19 patients at home under the guidance of the health department. Through this software, the medical force can provide appropriate and timely support to the patients, he said.

As of December 24, Hà Nội has nearly 19,000 cases of COVID-19 under treatment, including nearly 9,000 patients who are allowed to self-monitor at home. — VNS