Ho Chi Minh City operates three COVID-19 intensive care centers with 1,500 beds

Three intensive care centers for COVID-19 treatment with the combined capacity of 1,500 beds were put into operation in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

Their inauguration was attended by Ho Chi Minh City Party chief Nguyen Van Nen, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong, and Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son.

The centers, each having 500 beds, are located at a makeshift COVID-19 treatment hospital in District 7, Tan Phu District, and Binh Chanh District.

They are managed by directors of the Vietnam German Friendship Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, and Hue Central Hospital, with the assistance from the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Central Lung Hospital, Central Geriatric Hospital, E Hospital, and K Hospital.

Along with the 1,000-bed COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital in Thu Duc City, the three intensive care centers will focus on treating coronavirus patients with serious symptoms or in critical conditions.

According to chairman Phong, Ho Chi Minh City is going through an unprecedented difficult time, with the dangerous and highly transmissible Delta variant causing immense challenges to pandemic prevention and control efforts, especially the treatment process.

The city currently has15 makeshift facilities and 42 hospitals and centers with the total capacity of 45,000 beds for COVID-19 patient treatment.

“The establishment of intensive care centers, along with modern equipment and assistance of doctors and nurses from other localities, will further boost the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the city,” the official stated.

Vietnam had documented 205,656 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday morning, with 66,637 recoveries and 3,250 deaths, according to the health ministry.

The country has recorded 201,743 local infections in 62 out of 63 provinces and cities since the fourth wave began on April 27.

Ho Chi Minh City leads the table in the bout with 119,802 cases.