HCM City is set to take samples from five million people to test for COVID-19 by July 5. VNA/VNS.Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — HCM City aims to take samples from five million people by July 5 for COVID-19 screening as more and more people are found to be infected thanks to screening at hospitals, according to its People’s Committee.

The task began in residential areas, industrial parks, export processing zones, and hi-tech parks on June 26.

Districts 8, Bình Tân, Tân Phú, Hóc Môn, and Bình Chánh, which have a large number of patients, are first on the radar.

People in Thủ Đức city and other districts will have samples taken from July 1.

According to the People’s Committee, the screening will help detect infections in time and prevent further spread.

Also, through the screening, the city could evaluate the risk level in the community and take preventive measures, it said.    

The Department of Education and Training has suggested that the city should allow all candidates to sit the upcoming national high school graduation examination starting on July 2.

Teachers and invigilators supervising it should also be tested, it said.

There will be 88,774 candidates at 155 venues, and more than 18,000 teachers and proctors.

One more field hospital

The city Department of Health on June 26 put up one more field hospital at the Defence and Security Education Centre at the Việt Nam National University - HCM City.

The 1,000-bed hospital will treat new COVID cases detected through screening at high-risk locations in the community and quarantine areas.

If the patients start having symptoms, they will be transferred to the Củ Chi Field Hospital and Củ Chi, Cần Giờ, Bình Chánh, and Thủ Đức COVID hospitals.

If someone’s condition worsens, they will be transferred to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Phạm Ngọc Thạch Hospital, Trưng Vương Hospital, Chợ Rẫy Hospital, Children’s Hospital No.2, or City Children’s Hospital.

The city has immunised 710,773 people in the fourth phase of its vaccination drive as of June 27, according to its Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

More than 93,000 others could not get a shot because of their health condition, it added. VNS