At the Thanh Luong communal health station, there are no longer long lines of people waiting to get certificates of quarantine and recovery. Nguyen Quoc Hung, head of the station, said his station uses technology that allows people to film themselves collecting and testing samples and then send the clip to the station via Zalo. The station’s medical staff then log the data into their computer and send back digital certificates.

Hung said: "The number of people making health declarations is increasing. We use all the computers we have, but are still overloaded. We encourage people to collect and test their sample at home, film the process, and send us their clip via Zalo. Then we send them their certification."

The Hanoi Health Department has asked wards and communes to use software to manage infected cases, who make health declarations remotely and inform the medical staff of their symptoms on a daily basis. The local administration tells them what they need to submit to get a required certificate, and how to make online health declarations. These measures have reduced the burden on medical staff.

Each communal health station in Hanoi has a staff of 10 people. When the pandemic broke out, some of them contracted the coronavirus, causing many stations to be short-handed, so local administrations called on medical students and retired nurses and doctors to take up the slack. Every medical station in the city now stays on duty around the clock to deal with the overload.

Director of the Hanoi Health Department Tran Thi Nhi Ha said: "Hanoi has mobilized the entire political system to fight the pandemic. We have worked out several scenarios for responding to pandemic developments, organized different treatment plans, categorized patients, applied technology to patient management, and mobilized the community to support our efforts."

With the pandemic forecast to peak in the next two weeks, Hanoi has mobilized private hospitals to participate in the pandemic fight, and has worked closely with central hospitals to ensure beds for COVID-19 patients if the number of infections continues to rise. Members of youth associations and women’s association have joined pandemic response teams to help COVID-19 patients recover at home.