Some 90,000 doctors and 125,000 nurses nationwide have been mobilized for Covid-19 pandemic prevention, VnExpress quoted Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son as saying on March 17.

In the scenario in which Covid-19 widespreads, the health sector is expected to need more medicine and pharmaceutical students. "The final year students of the medicine and pharmaceutical universities will be trained in the techniques of testing samples to support isolation work and physicians. It is expected that about 16,000 students will join the campaign," the deputy minister said.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son (middle) on March 15 inspected Binh Thuan Lung Hospital where people who made close contact with Covid-19 patients are put in quarantine. Photo: Viet Quoc

He added that the Ministry of Health has organized online training courses on treating patients with different degrees of severity, and built plans for the scenario of more than 3,000 coronavirus patients.

"Vietnam's treatment network is functioning effectively," Son stressed.

Regarding medical equipment, the deputy minister said that there are currently about 3,000 ventilators in hospitals. District-level hospitals are also equipped with breathing machines. The health sector has also developed a plan to buy more medical supplies such as drugs, machines, masks, protective suits, antiseptic solutions, among others.

The number of patient beds is sufficient for isolation and treatment of patients.

Hanoi has also made plans for different scenarios. If the pandemic evolution becomes more complicated, the health sector can make 4,040 beds available, of which 50% are mobilized from general hospitals and the rest are in field hospitals.

According to Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung, in the coming days, in anticipation of a large number of Vietnamese citizens returning from European countries, Hanoi city has planned to prepare facilities for quarantining.

As of March 18, Vietnam reported 68 people positive with the coronavirus, of them, sixteen have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Hanoi now has 16 active coronavirus-infected cases, the largest number in Vietnam. Nearly 2,000 people are in concentrated quarantine areas in the city.