According to the ministry's report, 59 of the newly-confirmed patients are locally-transmitted cases most of whom were detected in quarantine sites or areas under lockdown in some localities including 19 in Bac Giang, 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, six in Bac Ninh, three in Ha Tinh, and one in Hoa Binh.
The 19 cases in Bac Giang were recorded at some local industrial parks which have reported a large outbreak over the last few weeks.
As of Friday evening, 9,172 locally-transmitted cases have been reported since the new outbreak occurred in the country on April 27, including 5,083 in the virus epicentre of Bac Giang. The outbreak has so far spread to 40 cities and provinces nationwide.
Three imported patients are all Vietnamese people who recently returned from Cambodia and Japan. They were sent to quarantine areas in Tay Ninh and Quang Nam provinces upon arrival and are now being treated at local hospitals.
With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 12,414 including 10,742 locally-transmitted cases.
As of 6 pm on June 18, a total of 4,733 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital.
So far there have been 62 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.
At present, over 170,000 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.
On June 17, an additional 200,263 people were given Covid-19 vaccine in Vietnam, raising the total number of vaccine doses used in the country to 1,991,059. The number of people who have received two doses has risen to 89,833.
