As HCMC and other southern provinces and cities are in the middle of the fight to put the Covid-19 pandemic under control, FUTA Group has been striving to offer support for needy people by launching the “Paying gratitude to the nation - Supporting the community” campaign in a bid to help the country fight off the pandemic.

Action for the battle against the pandemic Despite its business suspension due to the impact of the pandemic, FUTA Group as a provider of transport and logistics services has rolled up its sleeves to contribute to the Government’s fight against Covid-19 to soon bring life back to normal. Through the “Paying gratitude to the nation - Supporting the community” program, FUTA Group has managed to transport people who live and work in HCMC and other southern provinces hit hard by Covid-19 to their hometowns free of charge to avoid Covid infection. The transport provider has operated 5,000 coach trips to transport over 11,000 people home in Phu Yen, Binh Thuan, Ben Tre and Kien Giang. Besides, learning that the HCMC 115 Emergency Center and hospitals have become overloaded during the peak of the pandemic, the group has sent its employees and vehicles to serve the pressing need of Covid patients. During the peak of the pandemic, the number of positive Covid-19 cases in HCMC was surging, and 80% of up to 6,000 people making calls to the hotline of the city’s emergency center each day were related to Covid-19 cases, leading to an overload of the switchboard and a shortage of hotline coordinators. As such, FUTA Group quickly sent scores of its employees to the center to give support, helping ease the overload by handling calls from patients for emergency. Further, the group has quickly mobilized 226 passenger coaches with 16 seats each and collaborated with the HCMC Departments of Health and Transport to convert these passenger coaches into vehicles transporting Covid-19 patients, when the city faced a shortage of ambulances. These vehicles were equipped with the necessary medical equipment such as stretchers, masks, oxygen masks and a plastic divider curtain placed between the driver’s compartment and the other for patients. To further expand the fleet of ambulances, in late August, FUTA Group imported 99 brand-new Toyota Hiace cars priced at VND1.2 billion each and converted them into ambulances to transport patients to treatment facilities amid the rising number of Covid cases in HCMC and other southern provinces. Since the ongoing fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic began in late April, the group has operated 6,135 rides to transport medical workers, anti-virus forces, Covid patients and recovered patients. Apart from its timely and active support for frontline workers and Covid-19 patients, FUTA Group has also helped bring food to residents in HCMC during the tightened social distancing measures in the city when residents are banned from leaving their homes. The group has transported over 130 tons of vegetables and fruits from farms to 32 charity kitchens in the city. “We are willing to offer further support and accompany the country during the fight against Covid-19,” says Dao Viet Anh, deputy general director of FUTA Bus Lines, a subsidiary of FUTA Group. On September 8, FUTA Group also used its 30 passenger coaches to transport 200 tons of vegetables and fruits from the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to HCMC to be distributed to residents in the city during the social distancing period. In the coming days, the group will continue to transport 1,000 tons of vegetables to HCMC.

Life-sustaining support for Covid patients Due to the surge in Covid cases caused by the highly infectious Delta variant in HCMC and several southern provinces, the Government and health officials have repeatedly sounded alarms over a potential shortage of medical oxygen to treat Covid-19 patients. Aware of the importance of oxygen to coronavirus patients, FUTA Group swung into action to contribute to the reduction of Covid-19 deaths in HCMC and other southern provinces due to oxygen shortages by donating thousands of oxygen concentrators and high flow nasal cannulas (HFNCs) to a number of hospitals. The oxygen supply was aimed at bringing Covid-19 patients, mainly critical ones, back to life. As of mid-August, the group had presented a total of 20 Real-time PCR testing systems, over 360,000 test kits, more than 300 HFNCs, 950,000 medical gloves, thousands of pulse oximeters, over 27,000 protective gears and thousands of oxygen concentrators. Between August 22 and 27, FUTA Group handed over 3,000 more oxygen concentrators, 75 HFNCs, 500 pulse oximeters to HCMC, while presenting Binh Duong Province with 2,000 oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment. In addition, Ben Tre, Binh Thuan and Can Tho also received hundreds of oxygen concentrators and 10,000 test kits from the group, while other beneficiaries were Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Long An, Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Ninh Thuan and Vung Tau with a combined 1,150 oxygen concentrators. Up to date, FUTA Group has made a total donation of over 500 HFNCs, some 22,600 oxygen concentrators, 22,000 pulse oximeters and two million medical gloves. The group has placed an order for over 15,000 oxygen concentrators and 500,000 Covid vaccine doses to give them to virus-hit southern provinces. The representative of FUTA Group said that the health of residents should be put first. As such, the group will continue to offer further support to save more Covid patients. “We expect more benefactors, individuals and firms alike, to join the fight against Covid-19 to soon keep the pandemic in check,” said Anh. As of late August, FUTA Group had donated money and medical equipment worth a total of over VND600 billion for the Covid fight. The group is still continuing its charity journey by offering free coach trips to transport residents to their hometowns in the coming days. The active contribution from the group and its 10,000 employees has brought every hope of winning over the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Le Anh