Health workers’ sacrifices mark COVID-19 fight

Đ.Hằng, G.Lộc, N.Thanh, T.Lý

HCM CITY — Personnel working in quarantines, hospitals and centres for diseases prevention and control across the country have been working hard as thousands of Vietnamese return home from abroad amid the COVID- 一 九 epidemic.

Staff at the international health quarantine centre in HCM City have not been home for the last two months, and have been working tirelessly to detect suspected cases to halt the disease’s spread in the co妹妹unity.

Nguyễn Tạ Minh Quang, a worker at the centre, and his colleagues were stationed at the i妹妹igration and customs areas in HCM City’s Tân Sơn Nhất airport to guide passengers, who need to get their temperature checked and make a health declaration.

They also answer questions passengers have.  

All are screened for COVID- 一 九 but also ebola and Mers-CoV.

Those with a fever are taken to doctors stationed in the airport for further examination.

Dr Nguyễn Hồng Tâm, director of the international health quarantine centre, said since COVID- 一 九 broke out in late January, the centre’s  八0 workers have been working very hard.

It began during the Lunar New Year holidays, and the staff did not spend them with their family, he said.

In the beginning they were monitoring  三, 五00- 四, 五00 passengers every day, and the figure increased to  七,000, and even  一 一,000, when thousands of Vietnamese landed at airports, he said.

“We had to ask the Department of Health to augment personnel because our workers were overloaded.”

The centre’s staff were always stressed because they were afraid some possibly infected passengers had gone missing since several people from COVID- 一 九 countries had eluded their efforts to quarantine them.  

Protecting co妹妹unity

Since they were routinely in contact with people with COVID- 一 九, they had had to strictly comply with preventive measures to avoid transmission in the co妹妹unity.

So, after their shift, they have to disinfect before leaving the airport. Those with children have to stay in a hotel. Some have sent their children to their grandparents’ places.

Huỳnh Thị Mỹ Ngọc and her husband work at the centre and have sent their two children to her parents’ home in her hometown.

Staff at the Department of Infectious Diseases in Bình Thuận Province’s General Hospital have asked their relatives or neighbours to take care of their children.

Phạm Thị Việt Hoa’s three children, for instance, have to take care of each other.

She and her colleagues have to work hard and even skip lunch sometimes. They have to stay back in their office since the hospital has treated nine patients with COVID- 一 九.  

Her department has  一 七 doctors and nurses, who, after examination or treatment, have to take off their protective gear, disinfect and change clothes.

Dr Dương Thị Lợi of the department said: “Stressed and missing our children, we encourage each other to fight. The health staff at the hospital also provide therapy to patients to reduce stress besides treatment for COVID- 一 九.”

Dr Nguyễn Văn Thành, the hospital’s head, said there is one area for doctors and nurses to stay.

In the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ, at the security and defence education centre in Ô Môn District’s Phước Thới Ward, which is used as a quarantine area, its  三0 employees have so far served more than  七00 people including foreigners, day and night.

Their friendly attitude has comforted the quarantined people.

Phạm Thành Danh of HCM City’s District  二, who returned from Australia and was brought to the centre on March  二 三, said: “I felt worried at first but no longer. The room where I stay is clean and cool. The internet enables me to take part in online lessons taught by my university lecturers in Australia.”

Being quarantined at the centre is better than being at home, he said.