Vietnam uses private hospitals as COVID-19 infections caused by Delta rise

HANOI, July 30 (Reuters) – Vietnam’s health ministry on Friday issued an urgent appeal for private hospitals to treat patients with COVID-19 as the Southeast Asian country battles an upsurge infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant.

After successfully containing the virus for much of the pandemic, Vietnam has faced a record daily increase in infections since the end of April. The country has detected a total of 133,000 cases, 85% of which were registered in the past month.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is evolving in a very complicated way and tends to worsen in many cities and provinces,” the health ministry said in a statement.

Private medical facilities are expected to make their beds, equipment and manpower available to deal with COVID-19 cases when assigned by authorities, the statement added. Vietnam has 20,000 additional beds in 228 private hospitals across the country, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

Vietnam had maintained a policy that required anyone who tested positive for the virus to be hospitalized in a state-run institution.

With the rapid increase in cases and the capacity of public hospitals stretched, asymptomatic cases in the Ho Chi Minh City virus epicenter have been allowed to self-isolate at home on a trial basis.

The rapid spread of infections prompted authorities to impose strict movement restrictions in about a third of the country, with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City under lockdown.

In the 17 provinces of southern Vietnam, which are also all subject to movement restrictions, dozens of temporary COVID-19 rooms have been set up in redeveloped farms and factories.

Vietnam has reported 1,022 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, although the actual number may be slightly higher.

The official Tien Phong newspaper said Friday that the death toll in Ho Chi Minh City was 1,057, citing data from the city’s Disease Control Center.

Editing by James Pearson

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