Vietnam confirmed 9,180 more Covid-19 infections on Friday, which represents a fall of nearly 500 cases compared to Thursday's figure, according to the Ministry of Health.
Covid-19 patients are being treated at the Field Hospital 6 in Ho Chi Minh City
According to the ministry's report, 9,150 of the newly-confirmed patients are locally-transmitted cases most of whom were detected in quarantine sites or areas under lockdown in some localities such as Ho Chi Minh City (3,531 cases), Binh Duong (2,816), Dong Nai (808), Long An (623), Khanh Hoa (243), Dong Thap (152), Can Tho (142), Tra Vinh (140), Hanoi (97), Vinh Long (71), Ba Ria - Vung Tau (69), Phu Yen (64), and An Giang (61). Among these new infections, 1,999 cases were found in the community. There were 30 imported patients recorded.
Ho Chi Minh City continued to report the highest number of new infections in the country. On Thursday, the city also recorded 3,841 new patients, the majority of which are individuals who came into contact with confirmed Covid-19 patients or who were detected in either isolation and locked down areas. Social distancing rules are being further tightened in the city to contain the spread of the virus. The government has set a target for HCM City to contain its Covid-19 outbreak by September 15.
As of Friday evening, 251,753 locally-transmitted cases have been reported since the new outbreak occurred in the country on April 27, including 140,539 in the virus hotspot of Ho Chi Minh City. The outbreak has so far spread to 62 cities and provinces nationwide.
With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 255,748. The country stands 80th among 222 countries and territories worldwide in the number of infections.
On August 13, a total of 3,593 more patients were released from hospital following their full recovery, raising the number of recoveries in the country to 92,738 .
Also on Thursday evening, a further 275 deaths related to Covid-19 were announced, bringing the total number of fatalities in Vietnam to 5,088. The deaths were reported in Ho Chi Minh City (223 cases), Binh Duong (25), Tien Giang (8), Dong Thap (4), Ben Tre (3), Binh Thuan (3), Dong Nai (3), Long An (3), Khanh Hoa (2 ), and Can Tho (1).
The country has so far conducted over 13.25 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, with over 1.20 million people having received two doses.
Ho Chi Minh City on August 13 started to use one million doses of Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine Vero Cell for its current vaccination campaign. The city aims to vaccinate 70 percent of its residents aged 18 and above within this month.
