Today's English "HCM City says COVID outbreak has peaked, seeks ‘special’ mechanism to reopen the economy"

HCM City says COVID outbreak has peaked, seeks ‘special’ mechanism to reopen the economy.

The country’s COVID-19 hotspot, HCM City, has seen the pandemic peak and has basically contained it, Nguyễn Thị Huỳnh Mai, chief of office at the city Department of Health, said.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday (Sept 26), she said: “The city has reached the peak of the pandemic.

“The city has set up 22 teams to inspect the situation in each district, ward, and commune to make plans for the coming time.

“It will also review each of the evaluation criteria with guidance from the Ministry of Health for prevention in future.”

The city has 3,286 intensive-care beds for emergency situations, she noted.

Depending on the situation, the department plans to gradually reduce the number of isolation areas and medical facilities, and allow hospitals hitherto treating only COVID patients to resume normal operations, she said.

In “safe areas”, this would begin at the end of September, she said.

Since September 22 a general hospital each in districts 7, Cần Giờ and Củ Chi, all designated as ‘safe’, has gone back to normal functioning.

The Hospital for Tropical Diseases has resumed outpatient services for HIV patients, the HCM City Children’s Hospital has reopened its surgery and vaccination departments, and the Gò Vấp District Health Centre has resumed immunization of children.

“The hospitals no longer treat Covid-19 patients, but maintain 10-20 beds for isolation in case of suspected cases, and have an oxygen system to promptly resuscitate critically ill patients,” the department said.

The city plans to maintain field hospitals Nos. 13, 14, and 16, which remain resuscitation centers.

Nguyễn Hồng Tâm, deputy director of the HCM City Centre for Disease Control, said the positive rate in various districts had decreased to 0.2 percent on Sept 25, down from 0.4 on September 22.