All staff and passengers at Miền Đông Bus Station in Bình Thạnh District are asked to fill out health declaration forms and give samples for coronavirus testing. VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh-Phú Đạt

HCM CITY — HCM City is resuming the use of university dormitories as quarantine facilities along with 52 other quarantine areas, with a total of 4,500 beds in hospitals and districts, according to the city Department of Health.

The quarantine facilities at Việt Nam National University-HCM City and HCM City National Academy of Politics in Thủ Đức District, and HCM City University of Foreign Languages- Information Technology in Hóc Môn District, house a total of 10,000 people.   

Speaking at an online meeting with the Government held on Monday, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the city People’s Committee, said these facilities were ready to admit people designated for isolation because they were related to COVID-19 patients.

The city also has 24 hotels used as quarantine facilities where isolated people have to pay fees for their stay. They are located in districts 1, 7, Tân Bình, Cần Giờ and others. They can house 2,219 people. The city also has four hotels for quarantining aircraft crew members only.

As of Wednesday, 2,306 people were isolated in the city’s quarantine areas and 1,605 quarantined at home.

Five hospitals in the city treat COVID-19 patients: the Field Hospital in Củ Chi District, Cần Giờ District Health Centre, Oncology Hospital’s second branch in Thủ Đức City, Hospital for Tropical Diseases in District 5 and the City Children’s Hospital in Bình Chánh District.

The city has a sufficient number of COVID-19 test kits, Phong said.

According to the city Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control, the city has controlled transmission of infections among the staff at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport’s cargo services, where a cluster of cases has occurred.

The centre is strengthening surveillance of people from COVID-19-hit provinces returning to the city after Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. It has instructed all people returning to the city to fill out health declaration forms.

At bus stations, railway stations and the airport, healthcare authorities have taken samples at random from 3,464 people as of Wednesday. Of these, 3,266 results tested negative for the virus. The rest are waiting for test results.

The city has 12 areas still under lockdown due to COVID-19. They are in districts 3, Bình Tân, Gò Vấp, Tân Bình and Thủ Đức City. VNS