HCM City seeks approval to import second-hand ambulances

HCM City has proposed to the local customs department to import second-hand ambulances from South Korea to deal with the lack of vehicles to transport Covid-19 patients.

HCM City has proposed to the local customs department to import second-hand ambulances from South Korea to deal with the lack of vehicles to transport Covid-19 patients.

  

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Deputy head of HCM City Department of Customs Nguyen Huu Nghiep said the HCM City People's Committee has recently asked them to import 20-30 second-hand ambulances from South Korea for Covid-19 prevention. The ambulances were given to Vietnam by the Intumescent Fire Seals Association as Covid-19 ravages HCM City and southern provinces. The shipping cost can be as high as USD6,000 per ambulance.

However, second-hand ambulances are prohibited import items unless there are special mechanisms approved by the prime minister. Items on the prohibited lists can not be imported into Vietnam as relief goods.

The department has urged the HCM City People's Committee to ask for prime ministerial permission to import second-hand ambulances to use in outbreak areas and special cases under a new mechanism for Covid-19 prevention.

At present, 500 taxis and passenger vehicles have been converted into ‘ambulances’ to deliver critical Covid-19 patients to hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.