Doctors and patients at a Covid-19 intensive care unit in HCMC's Thu Duc City,
July 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen 

HCMC currently has a 4.2 percent Covid-19 fatality rate, higher than the global average. 

It goes up to 5.8 percent if only patients who have been hospitalized are counted.

According to the World Health Organization, the global death rate since the pandemic began has fluctuated between 2.1 percent and 4.4 percent.

"Generally speaking, the mortality rate in HCMC is within the global statistical range, but at its higher end," Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the city Department of Health, said Tuesday.

"The city is trying its best to reduce that high rate."

Currently 9,336 Covid patients are in intensive care, 1,030 on ventilators and 18 need ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) since their hearts and lungs are severely damaged.

According to the department, around 80 percent of newly confirmed patients are asymptomatic and 10 percent could get worse and need hospitalization.

For over a month now the number of daily new cases has averaged 4,000.

The latest wave began in late May, and since then the city has had 221,254 infections, making it the country’s epicenter.

After its first ever death in June the city has reported 9,203 more, though many have not been confirmed by the Ministry of Health, Pham Duc Hai, deputy head of the city Covid-19 Prevention and Control Committee, said.

The city enters the 10th day of a 15-day shelter in place Wednesday, during which a mass testing campaign has been undertaken to detect all infections in the community.

Vietnam’s biggest city had already mandated various levels of lockdowns since May 31.

The government wants the city to bring the outbreak under control by September 15.

"Medicine package for Covid-19 patients" campaign aims to support patients self-isolating at home. Each donation worth VND380,000 ($16.65) can help buy medicine for one patient.