Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang and municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh co-chaired a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control on Monday afternoon, January 10.

The municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control is urging the health agency to ramp up its efforts to accelerate the city’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. IN PHOTO: A healthcare professional giving a coronavirus vaccine to a high school student in Son Tra District. Photo: LE HUNG

Proper COVID-19 risk assessment needed to enable appropriate measures to be taken to stop virus spreading

Secretary Quang highlighted great efforts of authorities at local level to fight COVID-19 but raised concerns over the rapid increase in cases, of which, the majority were detected in public places, wet markets, manufacturing businesses and healthcare facilities. Mr Quang, therefore, stressed the need to properly assess COVID-19 risk in the city to enable appropriate actions to be taken in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. In addition, special attention must be paid on providing effective treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients to reduce mortality rates, as well as reducing pressure on health systems by more effective home-based care for patients with mild symptoms.

The Da Nang Party chief also asked the health agency to reopen the field hospital No.2 for COVID-19 patients as soon as possible to prepare for potential big jump in COVID-19 cases, use healthcare facilities across the city to receive and treat COVID-19 patients, as well as set up medical stations in industrial parks.

The city top leader stressed the need to offer medical oxygen cylinders and pulse oximeters to support home-based care for COVID-19 patients.

Secretary Quang directed the health agency to adopt the most appropriate anti-virus measure before and after Tet Festival. Healthcare workers were tasked to continue to go 'door-to-door' in bid to reach the unvaccinated who find it challenging to visit a vaccination site. Heed must be paid on making sure that all eligible adults aged 18 and over across Da Nang get a COVID-19 booster jab in the first quarter of 2022.

Municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh highlighted the need to make appropriate changes to home quarantine regulations for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, as well as take proactive action to provide timely support for struggling individuals and families during the pandemic.

Greater efforts needed to reduce pressure on local health systems

Doctor Tran Thanh Thuy, the Acting Director of the municipal Department of Health, stated that over recent days, Da Nang has witnessed an upward trend in the number of daily COVID-19 cases with the average daily count of over 300 cases.

Mrs Thuy remarked that reducing fatalities remains one of the priorities in virus control efforts in Da Nang, so the healthcare system must be re-organised in a way that provides patients with the fastest and most convenient access and delivers the best possible services.

In its efforts to provide effective treatment for COVID-19 patients, Da Nang is adopting the three-tiered treatment model, with the first being temporary COVID-19 hospitals and grassroots medical facilities, including home-based and community-based ones, which are designed to care for asymptomatic patients.

The second tier should be district-level medical clinics or higher which are tasked to treat those with moderate COVID-19 symptoms. This tier plays a very important role as it can prevent the patients’ conditions from worsening and save their lives. The last tier will be ICUs that admit those who require critical care.

Currently, between 4,000 and 5,000 inpatient beds along with 150-250 ICU beds are available for COVID-19 patients at hospitals.

Doctor Thuy said that Da Nang launched final push for the second COVID-19 vaccine dose in late December 2021 but 18 severe cases were recorded in the city, of which, 8 have yet to be jabbed, and 2 have received just one dose. She stressed the need to identify the unvaccinated across the city in order to encourage them to get life-saving jabs.

Doctor Ton That Thanh, the Director of the Da Nang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that 481 additional COVID-19 patients were discharged from Da Nang’s hospitals on Monday. There are 1,983 remaining active cases of COVID-19 that are being treated in healthcare facilities.

Besides, there are currently 406 patients with mild illness that are being monitored and isolated to recover at home.

Till date, a total of 2,017,547 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered across the city. Overall, 976,008 people received at least one dose, 959,072 people have been fully vaccinated, and 82,467 have received their third shot.

Reporting by LE HUNG – Translating by H.L