An ambulance transports Covid-19 patients eligible to be discharged. An additional 4,353 Covid-19 patients were released from hospitals in HCMC on July 27 - PHOTO: LDO

HCMC - An additional 4,353 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals in HCMC on July 27, taking to 21,338 the city’s total recoveries since the pandemic hit Vietnam, according to the HCMC Center for Disease Control.

These patients tested negative for the virus or positive but with a low viral load. Those who remain positive must self-isolate at home and undergo RT-PCR tests on the 14th and 21st days, the local media reported.

The city is treating more than 39,100 coronavirus patients, with 744 of them put on ventilators and 13 others requiring ECMO support. Up to now, HCMC has reported 815 Covid deaths, the municipal center said today, July 28.

To reduce the Covid death rate, the city has changed its strategy to focus on treating cases in critical condition and require all residents to stay at home, except to buy necessities and seek urgent medical attention.

The city is closely monitoring 36 chains of infection and has yet to detect any new chain.

Between May 26 and July 27, over 2.5 million samples at quarantine facilities and areas on lockdown were taken for testing.

Over 6,800 people are staying at quarantine facilities in the city, while some 38,000 others are self-quarantining at home.