HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, June 26, confirmed 123 fresh Covid-19 cases, including 58 cases in HCMC.
The new cases included 115 domestic infections and eight imported cases, the latter including four in Quang Ninh, two in Kien Giang and one each in Tay Ninh and Hanoi.
Besides the 58 domestic cases in HCMC, 11 other cases were found in Nghe An, 10 in Phu Yen, eight in Dong Thap, seven in Danang and six in Quang Ngai.
In addition, Binh Duong and Bac Giang reported five cases each; Binh Thuan and Hanoi had two each; and Bac Ninh recorded one.
The new cases sent the country’s Covid-19 tally today to 175. In addition, 188 patients were announced to have recovered from Covid-19.
Today, HCMC Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc signed a document lifting the lockdown on the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases for immediate effect.
The hospital was put under lockdown on June 12 after many of its employees were infected with Covid-19. From June 11 to 13, the hospital tested all 924 employees and 55 of them tested positive for Covid-19.
The HCMC Department of Health today established two more field hospitals for Covid-19 treatment by requisitioning two dormitories of the Vietnam National University HCMC, raising the number of beds for Covid-19 patients in the city to 10,000.
Specifically, the field hospital at the dorm of the National Defense and Security Training Center in Binh Duong’s Di An City has 1,000 beds, and another at the dorm in Thu Duc City has 4,000 beds.
The former started its operation today, while the latter will be put into use when required by the municipal steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control.
The department will arrange doctors and nurses from public hospitals to the field hospitals. In the initial stage, medical workers who have worked at the Cu Chi Field Hospital will be sent to the field hospitals.
The department had earlier converted some hospitals and departments to provisional facilities for treating Covid-19 patients with a total capacity of 5,000 beds.
In related news, five districts in the city with the most numbers of Covid-19 patients, including 8, Tan Phu, Hoc Mon, Binh Tan and Binh Chanh, were asked to take 500,000 samples daily for Covid-19 testing from June 26 to 30.
According to the HCMC Center for Disease Control, the city has accelerated the testing work.
This afternoon, the HCMC Department of Health received 80,000 test kits produced by Medico Co., Ltd as required by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, said HCMC Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc.
In addition, test kits stocked in the company’s store in the south would be sent to the city.
In another development, the entire Phu Yen Province will practice social distancing in line with the prime minister’s Directive 15 from 0 a.m. on June 27 as the pandemic is raging in the province.
The provincial government assigned the Department of Health to prepare medicines, test kits and medical equipment for the fight against the pandemic.
The competent agencies must arrange human resources for the tracing of those in close contact with Covid-19 cases and zoning of pandemic-hit areas.
As of 12 p.m. on June 26, the province has detected 21 Covid-19 cases in Tuy Hoa City, Dong Hoa Town and Son Hoa District. Moreover, 280 people in direct contact with them and 754 in indirect contact with them have been found.
