The hospital however would still perform Covid-19 testing and treat existing coronavirus patients, said the municipal Department of Health.

To fill the void left by the locked down hospital, Cu Chi District Hospital and Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital would take its place starting Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, three employees of the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases tested positive for the coronavirus. They are two IT staff and an administrator, who is the wife of one of the IT employees.

The husband and wife pair lives in Hoc Mon District, while the other case lives in Tang Nhon Phu A Ward in Thu Duc City.

The HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases is the southern metropolis's frontline facility in the Covid-19 fight. Cu Chi District Hospital and Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital had recently been re-oriented to specialize in treating Covid-19 patients, should HCMC record around 5,000 Covid-19 cases.

So far, the city has recorded 650 Covid-19 cases in the nation's latest coronavirus wave since late April.