Overcoming difficulties during the pandemic

As the most vibrant city in the country, over the past month the city named after Uncle Ho has become unusually quiet. At COVID-19 treatment hospitals and field hospitals, battles for lives of patients are intense day by day. Behind the quiet appearance, each officer, soldier, volunteer and others still silently take care of local people's lives.

Making every effort to treat patients

Doctor Nguyen Tri Thuc, director of Cho Ray Hospital and director of Ho Chi Minh City's COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital, said that since the COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital came into operation, every day is a real battle for medical workers here. Severe cases have been constantly transferred to the hospital, posing great pressure on medical workers to keep the patients alive.

Permanent Deputy Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee cum Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Phan Van Mai said that the city's top priority is how to mobilise all resources, both at home and abroad, to focus on improving treatment quality and reducing the mortality rate.

The second priority is taking care of people's lives through social security policies and solving people’s daily needs so that people can feel secure in overcoming this tough period.

Thirdly, the city will synchronously and methodically implement measures to control the pandemic and improve the current situation, such as through social distancing, testing, timely detection of F0s, prompt treatment, and accelerated vaccination.

In order to improve the treatment capacity and reduce fatalities, the city has received great support from the Government through the establishment of many resuscitation centres at field hospitals treat the serious and critical illness. At the same time, the city promptly adjusted the treatment model from a 5-layer model to a 3-layer model.

Assoc., Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that with the increasing number of F0 cases, while most of them are asymptomatic or mild, the city has changed its treatment model to focus on caring for F0s to minimise the disease progression, thereby reducing the pressure on the upper treatment layers and limiting the mortality rate.

The city aims to control infections in the community, curb the daily number of hospitalisations to be equivalent to the number of hospital discharges, and restrain the number of hospitalisations at less than 2,000 people per day by September 15.

The treatment of COVID-19 patients at Military Hospital 175.

Maintaining production pace

At 7pm, when workers can take a rest after a hard day’s work, Luu Kim Hong, chairman of the Trade Union of Nidec Vietnam Co., Ltd. at the high-tech park in Thu Duc City, began to have a quick dinner. Before he could lie back, hundreds of messages appeared on Zalo, so Hong quickly replied because any information was urgent, such as reminding the bus fleet to move on time to transport workers from hotels to the factory, deciding on the schedule for COVID-19 testing of workers, preparing thousands of meals for the next day, and others.

Those are the tasks and situations that Hong and the Executive Board of the company's Trade Union have actively carried out so that the company would not miss a beat in production over the past month and a half.

With 500 workers participating in "three on-spot" production and 1,500 workers working under the "one road, two destinations" plan, all divisions of the company are involved in the production aligned with ensuring safety amid the pandemic.

The company has made every effort to retain workers and monitor their accommodation to serve safe production.

“It is not because of difficulties that the company steps back, because only by maintaining production in combination with strict implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control plans can employees’ jobs be stabilised, goods be maintained, and the production chain not be broken, thus contributing to achieving the dual goals set by the Government. The determination and unanimity of the workers and the Board of Directors is the decisive factor,” Hong noted.

Many other trade unions in the city have worked day and night side by side with workers and business leaders to maintain production, prevent the pandemic, and encourage employees to continue working.

A representative from the Ho Chi Minh City Labour Confederation said that during the fourth wave of the pandemic, the city's trade unions have supported workers through many practical models and initiatives such as "Kitchen of compassion", "Zero dong supermarket", "Bus of affection" and others. Trade unions have also responded to the programme of giving 10,000 gifts to workers worth a total of nearly VND55 billion and provided COVID-19 vaccination for more than 465,000 workers.

Standing side by side with the people

Realising the risk of disease spreading in slum areas, Binh Thanh District People's Committee has decided to relocate about 2,000 people with priority given to people over 65 years old, people with underlying diseases, and households in difficult circumstances. They have moved to Thanh Da Trade Union Hostel and apartment building 1050 in Binh Thanh District.

The relocation aims to reduce population density and limit the generation of F0s while the city is strengthening social distancing. Binh Thanh District is also providing an extra VND500,000 for each resident in addition to a welfare bag for each family and milk for children.

Ma Thi Minh Thao and her four-member family who were living in the motel at No.148/9/2, Ung Van Khiem Street has just moved to a new place arranged by Binh Thanh District, said that the timely support and the response from the district provide motivation for her family to overcome this tough time.

In addition to providing financial support to needy workers and households and vulnerable people affected by the pandemic, tens of thousands of gifts and necessities are also provided by the city’s Fatherland Front Committee and authorities so that no one is left behind.

Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Ho Chi Minh City To Thi Bich Chau said that the city is implementing the programme to provide two million social welfare bags of essential goods, worth VND300,000 each, to people in difficult circumstances. Regarding F0s who are in quarantine at home, each welfare bag has extra milk and nutritional porridge for the sick.

Any difficulty will be overcome when there is joint effort and consensus. This is the time when the city needs to promote its good traditions to overcome the pandemic soon.