Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City stops admitting patients over COVID-19 concerns
Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 10:50 GMT+7
A hospital in Ho Chi Minh City says it will stop receiving patients for three days this week given the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic at the moment.
City International Hospital in Binh Tan District will not admit new patients from Wednesday to Friday, the management board of the hospital said in a notice on Wednesday morning, citing COVID-19 concerns.
The hospital will not grant entry to patient visitors and contractors during this period, according to the notice.
“Sorry for this inconvenience. Thank you!” the notice reads.
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| A notice from City International Hospital in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre |
The hospital already ceased receiving new patients on Wednesday morning, a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper journalist reported from the site.
Patient visitors were kept waiting outside the hospital while health workers took supplies for inpatients from them from a distance.
Medical staff ran temperature checks in the main hall where sanitizers were placed.
“I was surprised to read the notice as I had booked an appointment for my child to see the doctor here,” Phuong Be, a Binh Tan resident, told Tuoi Tre.
“It’s for the sake of pandemic control, I agree, but the hospital should have informed us before in order to save us time.”
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| People wash hands at City International Hospital in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, July 29, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre |
An official from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health told Tuoi Tre on Wednesday morning that his agency had known of the temporary closure of the City International Hospital.
“When there is any suspected [coronavirus] case, such a shutdown is advisable,” the official said.
“The city’s relevant agencies are carefully verifying everything and waiting for the Ministry of Health’s confirmation.”
Vietnam has logged 30 community-based cases since Saturday last week, ending a streak of 99 days without a single local transmission, according to a Tuoi Tre News count.
Twenty-six of the patients, including three critical cases, are in Da Nang, three in Quang Nam, and one in Quang Ngai Province. Those in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai are all linked to the Da Nang cases.
About 18,000 people who had been in Da Nang have returned to Ho Chi Minh City over the past few days, authorities said.
The city has said it will test all arriving from Da Nang since July 1 to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
Vietnam has registered 446 coronavirus patients as of Wednesday morning, with 276 imported cases quarantined upon arrival, according to the health ministry.
The Southeast Asian nation has confirmed 369 recoveries and zero fatalities to date.
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