HCMC Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc and other officials visit the Binh Chanh Field Hospital No. 1, which was put into operation today, August 16 - PHOTO: PLO

HCMC - The outlying district of Binh Chanh in HCMC today, August 16, put a field hospital with 1,000 beds into operation to treat Covid-19 patients.

The field hospital, located at the district’s Sports and Culture Center in Tan Tuc Town, is the first one of its kind that Binh Chanh District has established for Covid-19 treatment, the local media reported.

The hospital, which has 20 intensive care beds and 300 medical workers, is treating 84 Covid-19 patients.

The establishment of the field hospital is expected to help improving the city’s capacity of Covid-19 treatment and easing pressure on higher-level hospitals due to the complicated development of the pandemic, HCMC Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc said at the opening of the hospital.

Duc also said that the hospital should screen and transfer critically-ill patients to higher-level hospitals for treatment in a timely manner to reduce the Covid-19 death rate.

Binh Chanh District has 10 quarantine centers with 3,450 beds to admit and care for positive Covid-19 cases. As many as 3,770 patients have been discharged from the quarantine facilities.

Since April 27, Binh Chanh District has reported 9,860 Covid-19 infections, said Dao Gia Vuong, chairman of the district.