The health authority in Ho Chi Minh City has proposed the municipal administration allow the dissolution of COVID-19 Field Hospital No.3, the last of its kind in the city.

Located in the city’s outlying district of Binh Chanh, the hospital was earlier designated to resume operations within 48 hours to receive COVID-19 patients if the pandemic recurs, while waiting for the Ministry of Health’s decision to downgrade COVID-19 to a Group B infectious disease from a Group A.

Following the disbandment of the hospital, the department will transport the remaining medical equipment and facilities to other healthcare units to serve their operations.

The municipal health authority made this proposal after the field hospital completed its treatment mission and COVID-19 was officially downgraded to a Group B infectious disease from a Group A, with effect from October 20 this year under the Ministry of Health’s decision issued on October 19.

Despite the downgrading, local people should not drop their guard on COVID-19, the department advised.

As per the prevailing regulations, COVID-19 is a Group B infectious disease which has an incubation period of four days. The time with no new cases needed to declare an outbreak end is eight days. 

Meanwhile, the previous regulations put the respective periods at 14 days and 28 days.

The Health Ministry also had plans to administer COVID-19 vaccine at no charge to local people, especially the elderly and those with underlying medical problems, in 2023.

Patients with COVID-19 will no longer be exempted from examination and treatment fees from October 20 onward.

Instead, they will get the fees covered by health insurance funds as per the prevailing regulations.

For those without health insurance, they have to pay for the fees by themselves.

Since the pandemic broke out, Vietnam has undergone four waves of COVID-19 infections with over 11.6 million cases, including over 10 million recoveries and more than 43,200 deaths.

The country has administered over 266 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing official data from the Health Ministry.

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