Downgrading COVID-19 to Group-B infectious disease to change healthcare system
On Saturday (3/6), the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control approved the downgrade in the classification of COVID-19. Downgrading COVID-19 from a Group-A infectious disease (very dangerous infectious disease) to Group B (dangerous infectious disease) will usher in a number of changes to the country’s health sector.
Associate Professor Đỗ Văn Dũng, who leads the Faculty of Public Health at the HCM City’s University of Medicine and Pharmacy said that, under the new Group-B categorisation, the Government will no longer be obliged to shoulder the main responsibility for patient treatment, which includes providing free treatment facilities and completely underwriting all medical costs. Patients now have to pay for their medical expenses or the cost of vaccination, he said.
