The two additional facilities will add 1,500 beds for Covid-19 treatment in the city.

With 500 beds, Binh Chanh District Hospital in outlying Binh Chanh District will be completely repurposed into a facility for Covid-19 treatment. As planned, it will start receiving patients Friday.

The other hospital chosen for the plan is Thu Duc General Hospital in Thu Duc City.

It is expected that from next Monday, the hospital would halt operation of its inpatient section for other diseases and only offer outpatient services.

As many as 1,000 beds at the hospital will be used for treating Covid-19 patients, including children.

Along with 3,500 current beds, Ho Chi Minh City will have a total 5,000 for Covid-19 treatment.

Of the nine existing facilities for treating Covid-19 in HCMC, five are running out of beds.

The field hospital in Cu Chi District with a total capacity of 300 beds reported it is treating 292 patients.

A Covid-19 hospital in Can Gio District with 600 beds is treating 560 patients, while two facilities for treating child Covid-19 patients, City Children's Hospital with 80 beds and Children Hospital No. 2 with 60, are full.

By Thursday morning, the city has had 1,974 patients admitted to its nine Covid-19 treatment facilities.

Though more than 2,100 cases have been confirmed in the city since a new outbreak started in Vietnam nearly two months ago, newly-confirmed patients remain in centralized quarantine camps or other hospitals after confirmed positive.

City vice chairman Duong Anh Duc said last Saturday local medical resources are still responding well to the current pandemic situation and does not require external support.

The city is in its fourth week of social distancing restrictions, which started May 31.