A woman registers for a free COVID-19 test in Hà Nội.

Hà Nội has prepared equipment, facilities and staff to be ready to deal with 1,000 COVID-19 patients at the same time, Deputy Director of the city’s Health Department Trần Nhị Hà told media.

Hà said the city was also preparing for a worse scenario of 2,000-3,000 patients.

Up to Friday morning, the city had confirmed 105 cases, including 38 who have fully recovered.

Hà said under the preparation plan, more than 300 patients in Bắc Thăng Long Hospital in Đông Anh District were discharged or transferred to other hospitals so that the hospital would be used for COVID-19 patients only.

The hospital is divided into zones including a treatment zone, isolation zone and field administrative area. At present, five suspected COVID-19 cases and nearly 20 people who contacted those five are in the hospital.

In Đức Giang General Hospital, 150 beds, 30 doctors and more than 60 nurses have been mobilised to examine and treat COVID-19 patients. All children and pregnant women carrying the new coronavirus will be treated at the hospital.

Under preparation plans, the first 300 COVID-19 patients in the city will be treated at Central Tropical Diseases Hospital’s branch in Đông Anh District. Subsequent cases will be sent in order to Bắc Thăng Long Hospital (230 beds), Mê Linh Field Hospital (200 beds), Đức Giang Hospital (150 beds), Thanh Nhàn Hospital (200 beds), Hà Đông Hospital (140 beds) and Đống Đa Hospital (80 beds).

For other hospitals, the city’s Health Department asked for separate areas to receive, examine and isolate suspected patients.

The department has also trained health workers and hospital staff on how to protect themselves from infection.

Both quick and slow tests deployed

The chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung on Thursday afternoon asked the city’s Health Department and Centres for Diseases Control at districts and towns to take samples for quick and slow COVID-19 tests.

The move was made after the results from the quick and slow tests produced different results in some cases.

Vietnamese health authorities on Wednesday insisted that the standard, slower COVID-19 testing method remains the most reliable, while less accurate quick testing is more suitable if the case number gets drastically higher.

On Tuesday, Hà Nội Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention started opening stations providing free COVID-19 tests for Hà Nội residents in Hai Bà Trưng, Ba Đình, Đống Đa and Thanh Oai districts.

The stations use quick blood test kits imported from South Korea and test people with a connection to the hotspots of Bạch Mai Hospital and Thanh Hà Urban Area, where a patient of the hospital infected with the virus lives.

From Thursday, more stations were opened in other districts including Hoàng Mai, Thanh Trì and Thanh Xuân.