Hanoi, which is now the country's biggest epicentre, has seen a falling number of Covid-19 infections over the past few days.
Hanoi passes Covid-19 peak. Illustrative photo
On Monday the capital confirmed 29,833 new infections which was the third consecutive day the city saw a falling number of cases. Hanoi recorded the highest number of infections on March 8 with 32,650 cases.
Speaking with Dantri/Dtinews, a health official in Hanoi said that the pandemic had eased in the city in the past few days.
"We expect that the pandemic would return to a more normal situation such as that recorded before the Tet Holiday by the end of March," he said.
The pandemic has spread to all 30 districts and towns in the city with Soc Son reporting the biggest number of patients of 1,739, followed by Dong Anh (1,701), Hoai Duc (1,636), Hoang Mai (1,595), and Long Bien (1,552). The city reported a total of 838,217 patients by the end of March 14.
The more stealth Omicron sublineage is currently the dominant coronavirus strain in Hanoi, replicating the experience in HCM City, health authorities said.
According to deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Health, Vu Cao Cuong, about 80 percent of coronavirus samples taken from December 4 last year to March 1 were Omicron. Among the Omicron samples, 86 belonged to the BA.2 sublineage, dubbed a stealth sublineage because while it still registers as positive on a PCR test, it is not immediately discernible as Omicron due to the lack of a particular gene.
Director of the Hanoi health department, Tran Thi Nhi Ha, said the BA.2 sublineage is spreading quickly, but the number of hospitalised, severe Covid-19 cases has been dropping in the last few days.
"The percentage of Covid-19 cases being hospitalised is only 1-1.5 percent," she said. "Around 95 percent of cases in the capital are either mild or asymptomatic, with a death rate at 0.4 percent."