Medical staff in Ho Chi Minh City have given their overworked colleagues in neighboring Binh Duong Province a helping hand by arranging COVID-19 treatment for 496 drug addicts and staff members at a rehab center.

Le Minh Tan, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, reported at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon the COVID-19 situation at Bo La Rehab Center in Phu Giao District, Binh Duong.

Bo La and 11 other rehabilitation centers situated in different southern localities are administratively managed by the Ho Chi Minh City social affairs department.

According to Tan, medical authorities in Binh Duong detected the first two COVID-19 infections at Bo La Rehab Center on July 17.

A mass testing session, using rapid test kits, conducted at the center on the next day discovered that 450 out of 607 drug addicts and 56 out of 82 staff members contracted the coronavirus.

The management board of the center and local medical authorities arranged for the 450 infected addicts to stay in four quarters and the 56 sickened staff members in another.

Due to medical manpower shortage in Binh Duong, the Ho Chi Minh City social affairs department dispatched a team of doctors to the southern province to help treat the COVID-19 patients at Bo La Rehab Center.

If their situation worsens, the infected drug addicts will be transferred to Nhan Ai Hospital, which is under the management of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health and located in nearby Binh Phuoc Province, while the sick staff members will be sent to either Binh Duong General Hospital or Cu Chi COVID-19 Hospital in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Health on Thursday morning confirmed 2,967 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,965 domestic cases. The new cases have taken the country’s tally to 71,144, including 11,971 recoveries, as recorded since early 2020.

Of the latest cases, 64 were detected in Binh Duong while 2,433 infections were logged in Ho Chi Minh City, which has recently led the country in daily new infections, with thousands of patients confirmed per day.

Since April 27, when the pandemic’s fourth wave appeared in Vietnam, Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City have accounted for over 4,700 and 43,700 cases, respectively, in the country’s total of 67,473 domestic infections.

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