HCMC – Ride-hailing service provider Grab Vietnam has written to the HCMC transport and health authorities proposing utilizing GrabCar vehicles to transport medical equipment to quarantined and locked down areas, hospitals and labs, and Covid-19 patients to hospitals.
Specifically, hospitals, clinics, and medical workers that need to transport medical equipment to quarantined and locked down areas, medical centers, Covid-19 field hospitals and testing labs can book the GrabCar Medical service on the Grab app.
Similarly, the GrabCar Emergency service will enable people in need of emergency medical treatment and coronavirus patients to quickly go to hospitals in the city. However, this service will have to meet stricter requirements than the GrabCar Medical service and need more time to prepare.
To use the GrabCar Emergency service, patients and their family members have to file health declarations before taking the trip and have to wear masks during the trip, according to a Grab representative.
Besides this, vehicles offering the GrabCar Medical and Emergency services with less than nine seats were labeled “Charter Vehicles”, and started offering GrabCar services before July this year.
The vehicles were encouraged to install a plastic divider curtain between the driver’s compartment and the one for patients, prepare hand sanitizers, and disinfect the vehicle after each trip. They must also be granted a license and a special badge by the departments of Transport and Health to become operational.
In addition, drivers offering these two services must receive at least one shot of Covid-19 vaccine, undergo temperature checks and declare their health status daily, wear protective gear while working and join Grab’s Covid-19 safety training sessions.
Further, Grab suggested launching the two services in two phases. In the first phase, it will deploy the GrabCar Medical service from August 15 to September 1.
In the second phase, from September 1 until car transportation is resumed, Grab will simultaneously deploy the GrabCar Medical and Emergency services.
