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Clean and quiet inside a quarantine zone in Saigon

By Quynh Tran   February 9, 2020 | 03:48 am PT
A quarantine zone in Saigon’s District 3 stands ready to take in people suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus.
The quarantine zone managed by the District 3 Hospital, spanning 1,700 m2, was finished on February 4.The facility was completed in about a day. We only quarantine people, perform health check-ups and take care of patients, not treating them, said Pham Thi Thuy Hang, secretariat chief of the District 3 Peoples Committee.

The quarantine facility managed by the District 3 Hospital, covering a 1,700 square meter area, was completed on February 4.

"The facility was completed in about a day. We only quarantine people, perform health checks and take care of the inmates, not treat them," said Pham Thi Thuy Hang, head of the District 3 People's Committee's Office.

It was set up after a Vietnamese-American man in a District 3 hotel was found infected with the nCoV. The facility was to quarantine 18 employees and foreign guests of the hotel. However, all of them declined, saying they would quarantine themselves at the hotel. Hence the facility is yet to receive an inmate.

So far, three people in Saigon have been confirmed infected with the virus and one of them discharged by the Cho Ray Hospital in District 5.
The zone has 8 quarantine rooms with about 40 beds, capable of containing 60 people at a time.

The zone has eight quarantine rooms with about 40 beds, capable of accommodating 60 people at a time.
Each room spans 25 m2 and has 2-3 beds, with pillows, blankets, TVs...

Each room has an area of 25 square meters and 2-3 beds. Inmates can entertain themselves watching TV during their isolation.
The rooms also have personal hygiene tools like toothpaste, soap or paper tissues.

The facility is stocked with items needed to maintain personal hygiene and water to keep inmates hydrated.
They also have toilets, with signs on the walls with instructions on how to wash ones hands or emergency phone numbers to call doctors.

Toilets in the facility have posters on walls with instructions on how to wash one's hands as well as emergency phone numbers to call.
Spare rooms are reserved in case of a major outbreak. They could provide 20 beds extra. Those who are quarantined here and exhibit severe symptoms could be transferred to another hospital for treatment.

Spare rooms have been prepared for 20 extra beds if needed. If inmates here exhibit severe symptoms, they will be transferred to another hospital for treatment.
A doctor, two nurses and a security guard are on duty every day in the quarantine zone. In case of a major outbreak, extra personnel could be provided from the hospital or the districts medical center.

A doctor, two nurses and a security guard are on duty every day at this facility. Extra personnel will be commissioned from the local hospital or the district's medical center if needed.
The quarantine zone always remain closed to limit the number of people going in and out, and would be so until the nCoV outbreak is over.

The quarantine facility is always closed to restrict entry to people and will remain so until the nCoV outbreak is over.

Vietnam confirmed its 14th nCoV infection in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on Sunday. The country declared the nCoV outbreak an epidemic on February 1. 

The global death toll of the epidemic has reached 813 – one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong, and the remaining in mainland China.
 
 
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