Covid-19 attacks series of hospitals in Vietnam

Nearly 10 hospitals across Vietnam have been put under lockdown and isolation after Covid-19 cases were detected in those healthcare centers in the past two days.

Chu Ngoc Anh, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee (1st left), and Deputy Health Minister Tran Van Thuan check lockdown work at K Hospital in Hanoi on May 7. Photo: VNExpress

Two of them are leading national hospitals treating cancer and Covid-19 namely the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital (K Hospital) and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases (NHTD), respectively. Both are located in Hanoi.

In the latest move, on Friday morning [May 7] K Hospital in Hanoi has been kept in lockdown after reporting 10 Covid-19 cases.

With three facilities in Hanoi, K Hospital has roughly 5,000 staff and patients who are from different parts of Vietnam.

Disinfection at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases on May 6. Photo: VGP

Meanwhile, since May 5, NHTD has been put on isolation for 14 days.

The remaining hospitals include those in the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc, Lang Son, Thai Binh, and one in the central province of Nghe An.

The infection in hospitals has not yet been serious with just some cases in each facility but local authorities vow to take tough measures before the situation gets worse.

But the infection at NHTD becomes worrisome as it is the leading hospital in Vietnam in treating Covid-19 patients in the north, mostly cases of critical conditions.

Lockdown on K Hospital - Tan Trieu Facility in Hanoi on May 7. Photo: Duc Tho/ Kinh Te Do Thi

As of May 7, the NHTD infection sequence recorded 52 cases in 14 cities and provinces nationwide.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said the early lockdown and isolation on affected hospitals will protect frontline health workers and keep hospitals safe in the fight against Covid-19.

On May 7, the Ministry of Health issued guidelines for health workers in the face of fresh coronavirus outbreak, in which, they are required to follow the 5K-protocol namely masking – disinfection – distance – no gathering – and medical declaration.

Special-purpose vehicles disinfect the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases on May 6. Photo: VGP

Healthcare facilities need to take regular Covid-19 tests for their workers while hospitals are required to be strict in classifying patients.

In March 2020, Covid-19 hit Vietnam’s largest hospital Bach Mai Hospital, causing hundreds of infections and hundreds of thousands people, who were patients and patient relatives, had tested.

The frontline health workers have stayed strong over several waves of coronavirus outbreaks in Vietnam since early 2020.

Foreign health workers including Todd Pollack, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Guy Thwaites, director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit and Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in Vietnam, said in “Emerging Covid-19 success story: Vietnam’s commitment to containment” study that “a well-developed public health system” is one of the reasons for Vietnam’s Covid-19 success story.