NEWS

HCMC With F1 Home Isolation Problem

In the face of the increasing F1 population, to avoid cross-contamination, the Ministry of Health instructed HCMC to pilot F1 isolation at home, and the city said "researching".

With 3,218 cases as of June 27, nearly 40,000 people are in quarantine in Ho Chi Minh City, of which about 12,000 are in quarantine, nearly 28,000 are isolated at home and accommodation. The Centers for Disease Control said the city is expanding its capacity of concentrated quarantine areas in the area. Currently, in addition to the city-level quarantine zones in the National University dormitory, District 7 Hospital, Can Gio Hospital, two military zones and dozens of dormitories, at the request of the HCMC government, 21 districts must prepare 200 quarantine places for each locality. Thu Duc city alone must have 600 places to meet the need for isolation in case of positive close contact.

The issue of F1 isolation at home has been suggested by Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son several times in HCMC to reduce the load on the concentrated isolation areas. On June 27, the Ministry of Health issued a written°instruction to pilot F1 home isolation in HCMC for the city to review and apply. Previously, two localities recorded high number of cases, Bac Giang and Bac Ninh were also piloted for this.

According to the guidance of the Ministry of Health, F1 in Ho Chi Minh City is isolated at home for 28 days if it is ensured to have private, closed rooms, separated from the common living area. Isolators do not leave the room; do not contact family members and pets. F1 always install and enable daily medical declaration application such as VHD (Vietnam Health Declaration), Bluzone; self temperature measurement, health monitoring to update...

At the recent meeting, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Huu Hung°said that the city's health sector is studying and considering organizing F1 isolation at home. The monitoring of F1 at the place of residence helps the people with psychological isolation gently, the state helps prepare the basis for concentrated isolation when F1 numbers increase. However, at a press conference on June 19, the City Covid-19 Steering Committee said that Ho Chi Minh City has not used this measure.

Regarding the above issue, Assoc. Tran Dac Phu, former Director of Preventive Health Care (Ministry of Health) said that the number of cases increased, F1 isolation at home is necessary. Because when the concentrated quarantine area is overloaded, there are insufficient physical and human conditions to serve, which can lead to cross-contamination.

Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, Head of Infection - Neurology Department (Children's Hospital 1, HCMC) also agreed on the plan to isolate F1 at home in the context of a complicated epidemic in the city. "The problem is to ensure monitoring so that the F1 quarantine period does not leave the house. If this is done, home isolation is better than where surveillance is concentrated, ”Khanh said.

F1 home isolation has been applied in many parts of the world, especially in the West. This measure is also the choice of some governments in Asia, such as Singapore, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. to reduce the burden on social resources.

At the local level, Chairman of Binh Thanh District People's Committee Dinh Khac Huy said that in the past time when the epidemic broke out, the district mobilized all forces to quarantine and concentrate many F1 cases in the area. Therefore, if managing more F1 cases at home, the local will have to strengthen the force, which can "make it impossible".

“People will feel more comfortable quarantining in their places of residence but the authorities must spread the force to control it, which can lead to overcrowding or cross-contamination if management is not tight,” Huy said.

“A home-quarantine person has the ability to live with many people in the family, it is difficult to comply with the epidemic like quarantine in the center,” said Dr. Nguyen Trung Hoa, Director of Go Vap district health center, and said that for effective home monitoring F1 requires strict regulation from the place of residence, epidemiological factors to avoid the occurrence of cross-contamination or the formation of an outbreak.

On June 27, Vietnam recorded 314 more cases in the country. Of these, 284 cases were detected in quarantine or lockdown areas. Bac Giang is still the most infected locality with 5,630 cases, followed by Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Ninh, Hanoi with 3,218, 1,573 and 468 cases, respectively. Binh Duong alone, the second largest epidemic region in the south recorded 262 cases, surpassing Da Nang, ranked 5th in the country.