On the night of Jan. 23, as temperatures plunged to 8 degrees Celsius, around 100 people were huddled on rows of seats outside the A9 Emergency Center and the Stroke Center in Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital. These individuals, with family members in the Emergency Department, braved the cold, waiting for updates from the doctors.
Bach Mai Hospital, in response to the early days of the cold spell, activated numerous gas heaters positioned along the sidewalk between buildings A and P to provide relief from the biting cold.
These areas witnessed a gathering of people standing, talking, or lying down, doing whatever it took to endure the cold.
In various sections, some resorted to lying on stone benches or setting up makeshift shelters with mosquito nets, spreading mats along building corridors to create makeshift sleeping quarters.
72-year-old Mai Hoa from Hanoi's Ha Dong District set up a folding bed in the hallway to spend the night while her mother received treatment in Building C.
She explained that to combat the intense cold, she purchased a large plastic bag and slept in it, creating a makeshift sleeping bag to block the wind and retain heat.
The yard and hallway area of Building 07, Department of Neurology at Bach Mai Hospital, hosted dozens of folding beds and tents accommodating around 50 families from the central region or the northern mountainous provinces.
When space ran out, others erected tents under trees or constructed temporary shelters from plastic wrap and raincoats to fend off the cold and rain.
45-year-old Son from Ha Giang, who had been taking care of his relative for over a month at the Department of Neurology, shared his struggles with the cold, noting the difficulty in staying warm despite layers of clothing and blankets.
"I haven’t been able to get a good night’s sleep since staying at this hospital," he said.
At 10 p.m. on Jan. 24, over 10 people were spotted enduring the cold outside the Emergency Department of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Dong Da District.
Thanh Tung, 50, from Nam Dinh Province, highlighted financial constraints that led him to sleep outside for three nights, using mats and blankets on stone benches to combat the cold.
Similarly, 60 people were found sleeping on stone benches and staircases outside the Emergency Department at Viet Duc Hospital.
Some laid mats and carpets near the hospital entrance, while others set up plastic bags and mosquito nets under stairs for shelter.
Two people set up plastic bags and mosquito nets under the stairs near the Emergency Department at Viet Duc Hospital.
A man sleeping on a bench near the main building expressed his resolve to find a temporary solution to the cold, saying: "This is just for tonight; I’ll figure out something tomorrow. I don’t care where I sleep as long as it’s not cold."
The cold wave, where average daytime temperatures fall below 13 degrees, is expected to persist until Sunday, after which the weather will gradually get warmer, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
