Da Nang to build field hospital as three medical facilities remain locked down

The city's party committee on Thursday urged the people's committee to speed up construction of the hospital at the Tien Son Sport Center.

The center, built in 2010 for the National Games, spans 10,000 sq.m. with two floors underground and four above and a total floor area of 10,000 sq.m. In 2017 it was extensively renovated for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

It would ease the burden on the healthcare system and authorities could focus on extinguishing Covid-19 outbreaks at Da Nang Hospital, Da Nang Hospital C and the Orthopedic and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital of Da Nang, the party committee said.

It also called on the people’s committee to appraise and buy necessary medical equipment like ventilators, protective suits, masks, and disinfectants for the facility.

Huynh Duc Tho, chairman of the people’s committee, said the Department of Health has been instructed to test 3,500-4,000 samples a day and quickly announce test results to end community transmission.

City authorities called for donations of money to the city's pandemic fight and food for doctors and nurses fighting the outbreaks.

Da Nang, now Vietnam's largest Covid-19 hotspot, began a 15-day period of social distancing on Tuesday. People are requested to stay at home and required to maintain a distance of at least two meters from each other in public. Gatherings of more than two people in public, except in offices, schools and hospitals, are prohibited.

Festivals, religious ceremonies, sports and other events that gather a large number of people are banned. Non-essential businesses including entertainment facilities, beauty salons, massage and karaoke parlors, and bars are closed.

Da Nang last Saturday recorded Vietnam's first case of local transmission in 100 days, and has gone on to diagnose 78 more people with Covid-19 as of Friday morning.

The outbreak has since spread to five other localities, with two cases each being reported in Hanoi and HCMC, eight in Da Nang's neighboring Quang Nam Province and one each in nearby Quang Ngai Province and the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

As of Thursday afternoon Da Nang had over 6,600 F1 - people having close contact with patients, and over 1,100 F2 cases who have had contact with F1.

More than 6,000 medical workers, patients, their family members, and other employees have been quarantined at Da Nang Hospital, Da Nang Hospital C and the Orthopedic and Physical Rehabilitation Hospital of Da Nang.

More than 4,400 others have been quarantined either in quarantine zones, medical centers or their own homes.

Vietnam has had 509 Covid-19 cases so far, 140 of them active.