Families collect Covid victims’ belongings from HCMC hospital

On Sept. 19, the Covid-19 intensive care center (ICU) at Bach Mai Hospital in District 7 set up a warehouse to store the personal items left behind by Covid victims. When VnExpress visited it there were 300 bags neatly arranged on shelves.
Dr Tran Thai Son, deputy head of the hospital's general planning department, says: "The people who succumbed to Covid died with no loved ones next to them and did not have proper funerals. So we have the responsibility of keeping their possessions and returning them to their families to partly console them".
The belongings have been kept at the hospital since August 8. All are checked carefully in the presence of the police before being brought to the warehouse.

On Tuesday afternoon, dozens of people came to collect these items.
At the reception near the gate, Huynh Duc Minh Duc of District 10 provides information about his deceased father so that staff could enter the warehouse to search.
"More than two weeks ago my father tested positive for Covid-19 and was brought here. Then his condition got worse and he unfortunately passed away. Today, I received a call from the hospital to pick up my father's belongings."

The small bag Duc's father brought when he was admitted includes his medical examination book, personal documents, insurance card, and phone. It is brought by a health provider for him to check and take back.

Duc bursts into tears as he hugs his father's bag.
"I didn't think my father would pass away so quickly. Now seeing these items I feel very regretful because there were many things I couldn't do for him."

Ly Le Huong receives her mother's phone and personal documents. Her mother died at the end of August.
"These objects may not be valuable, but they mean much to her family," she says.

Truong Minh of District 1 says: "When my wife was admitted to the hospital, she brought VND18 million ($790) with her. The money is intact, as well as her documents and personal belongings".
His wife died at the end of August leaving him with two children. The older is 19 years old and the younger is two. He brought the child with him to the hospital since there was no one to look after him.

Vuong Tuyet Xuan of District 8 tells a worker inside the warehouse to help find her brother's backpack. Her mother too died of Covid .
Dr Nguyen Van Dang says returning items is difficult since the volume is large and often can be hard to find.
Many people were hospitalized in an unconscious state and medics could not get their personal information.

The items are mostly phones, personal documents, cash, and clothes.
Phones with dead batteries are recharged, and arriving family members need to call their numbers to obtain them.

The luggage is disinfected every day in the warehouse.

At 4:30 p.m. there were nearly a dozen people at the gate waiting for their turn to go in and obtain the belongings.
The hospital said medical staff made around 100 calls to victim's families in the last three days, but only around 20 have come so far since many relatives are being treated for Covid themselves or are in isolation.

Bach Mai, the city’s 16th Covid field hospital, has 2,400 beds.
HCMC, the epicenter of the fourth wave since late April, has had 362,493 cases and 13,992 deaths.