Củ Chi COVID-19 field hospital. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City will temporarily shut four COVID-19 field hospitals from January 19 since the pandemic situation is improving.

The Department of Health made the decision to close them until further notice and “give medical staff time to recover their health” since only around 30 per cent of beds are currently being used to treat COVID patients.

The four are Field Hospitals No. 3 and No. 10 in Thủ Đức City, No. 5 in District 5, and the Củ Chi Field Hospital.

Staff working there will return to their regular medical facilities, and patients who continue to need treatment after January 19 will be transferred to other hospitals.

According to the department, the new Omicron variant might cause another large outbreak, and so the city must always be prepared to deal with the pandemic.

If these hospitals are instructed to reopen again, they have to do so within 24 hours.

Field hospitals open during Tết have to make plans for rotation of personnel until February 15.

The department will also allocate more staff to Field hospital No. 12 in Thủ Đức City, which admits and treats Omicron patients.

HCM City, the country’s COVID epicentre, has seen the number of new cases decline since December.

Deaths have also reduced steeply, with only 15 recorded on January 14 compared to 64 a month earlier.

The city’s risk level has been designated as ‘low level – new normal’ / green code for the past two weeks, which mean most activities can be carried out and businesses can operate normally, with prevention measures like avoiding large crowds and mask wearing still in place.

100 per cent of adults (people aged 18 years and above) have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines, while over 88 per cent of the people older than 50 years have been fully vaccinated. — VNS.