According to the ministry's report, 16,316 of the new patients are locally-transmitted cases confirmed in 62 out of 63 localities in the country with five localities seeing the highest numbers including Hanoi (1,704), Ca Mau (1,590), Tay Ninh (939), HCM City (813), and Khanh Hoa (798). There were nine imported patients confirmed today.
The new infections showed an increase of 1,350 cases compared to yesterday's figure. There were 11,309 infections found in the community.
As of Tuesday evening, 1,566,261 infections had been reported since the new outbreak occurred in the country in late April. Some localities that have recorded the highest number of patients include HCM City (496,183), Binh Duong (289,464), Dong Nai (95,496), Tay Ninh (65,900), and Long An (39,760).
With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 1,571,780. The country now stands 32nd among 223 countries and territories worldwide in the number of infections.
On December 21, an additional 50,191 more patients recovered from the disease, raising the number of recoveries in the country to 1,160,090.
On Tuesday evening, a further 250 deaths related to Covid-19 were announced, bringing the total number of fatalities in Vietnam to 30,041. The deaths were reported in some localities including HCM City (58), Tay Ninh (31), Dong Nai (20), Tien Giang (15), Binh Duong (14), Can Tho (12), Kien Giang (11), Soc Trang (10), Dong Thap (9), Vinh Long (9), Hanoi (8 ), Ben Tre (8 ), Ba Ria - Vung Tau (7), Bac Lieu (6), Binh Thuan (6), Long An (5), Ca Mau (4), Dak Lak (3), Tra Vinh (3), Khanh Hoa (3), Lam Dong (2), Hau Giang (2), Quang Ngai (1), Binh Dinh (1), Ninh Thuan (1), and Binh Phuoc (1).
Vietnam on December 20 administered 981,748 doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The country has so far conducted over 140.43 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, with over 62.95 million people having received two doses.