The medical staff included 51 from the Central Eye Hospital and 60 from the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion.

They will support the COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital and the COVID-19 Resuscitation Centre under Bach Mai Hospital at Field Hospital No.16, which are two of the five intensive care centres specialising in the treatment of severe and critical Covid-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City.

At the airport, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long encouraged the doctors, nurses and technicians from the two medical facilities in Hanoi to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City.

He highly hailed all efforts and contributions made by health workers who volunteer to stand on the front line amid the complicated development of the pandemic.

* Also, on the afternoon of August 15, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health sent a document to update the “Instructions on health care packages for F0 infections at home” to public and non-public hospitals, hospitals for COVID-19 patient reception and treatment, medical centres in Thu Duc City and other districts, and concentrated quarantine areas for infections in Thu Duc City and other districts.

People infected with COVID-19 (F0) who can be isolated at home must be under 45 years old and have no symptoms or mild symptoms (no respiratory failure, SpO2 ≥ 96%, respiratory rate <20 breaths/minute). In addition, they must not suffer from any background diseases and must not be pregnant nor obese.

Infected children, elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions need to be supported and cared by someone when they are isolated at home.

The Department of Health instructed that it is crucial to provide separate rooms with ventilation windows and separate toilets for F0 people. Personal tables, chairs and trashcans with lids and trash bags should be placed in front of isolation rooms to receive food and necessary personal items.

Hand and surface sanitisers, throat rinses or physiological saline (0.9%), medical masks, and thermometers must always be available.

Regarding health care activities for F0 infections isolated at home, the City Department of Health provided guidance of six activities, including identifying and making lists; instructions for taking care of F0 cases at home; medical examination and health monitoring; guidelines of prescriptions for home treatment; testing; and health advice and emergency support.

* Da Nang City began a hard blockade for the whole city for seven days from 8am on August 16 to focus on testing and tracing F0 infections within the community.

In addition, the city has accelerated vaccination against COVID-19 on a large scale, towards achieving herd immunity as soon as possible.