HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, August 8, confirmed 4,949 new Covid-19 cases, with two imported and 4,947 locally acquired cases, sending today’s Covid-19 infections to 9,690.
Of the new cases, the source of infection of 881 cases remains unknown.
HCMC continued taking the lead, at 2,002 cases, closely followed by Binh Duong with 1,733 cases, Dong Nai with 224, Khanh Hoa with 201 and Can Tho with 71 cases.
In addition, 68 cases were detected in Danang, 67 in Tra Vinh, 62 in Ninh Thuan, 51 in Hanoi, 46 in Binh Thuan and 44 in Dong Thap. The remaining cases were recorded in 21 other localities.
Thus, HCMC had 3,898 cases today, while Binh Duong reported 3,210 cases, which is the province’ highest number of Covid-19 cases in a day so far.
Today, 4,860 patients were announced to have recovered from Covid-19, raising the total recoveries to 71,497.
This evening, the treatment subcommittee under the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control reported 147 Covid-19 deaths in six localities. Of the total, 108 cases were recorded in HCMC, 30 in Binh Duong, five in Long An and one each in Ca Mau, Daklak, Binh Dinh and Ninh Thuan.
With 234 Covid-19 deaths reported this morning, the country saw 381 fatalities today.
The steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control of Bac Giang Province, which was the country’s biggest pandemic hotspot in May, on August 7 informed that 99.9% of Covid-19 patients in the province have recovered from the disease. Only eight cases, who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, are still being treated at the Bac Giang General Hospital.
The province has gone 27 consecutive days without new locally-infected Covid-19 cases. Eight out of 10 districts in the province have not recorded new cases for 35 days.
All enterprises in the province have resumed their operation and 97% of workers have returned to work.
In related news, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 7 asked the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the relevant agencies to support Vimedimex Medi-Pharma JSC in importing the Sputnik V vaccine from the UAE’s Royal Strategic Partner as proposed by the company.
Vimedimex wants to buy some 10 million Sputnik V doses. It is one of 36 companies allowed to import Covid-19 vaccines.
In another development, the Ministry of Health on August 7 allowed localities with many Covid-19 cases to quarantine asymptomatic Covid-19 patients at home instead of sending all of these cases to treatment facilities.
Localities must set up consulting teams and hotlines to quickly transport patients to medical centers if they develop symptoms.
In addition, patients can be discharged from hospital on the seventh treatment day if they have a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test result or positive but with a low viral load. These patients will be under medical monitoring at home.
Patients retesting positive for Covid-19 do not need to be hospitalized.
The solution of allowing asymptomatic Covid-19 cases to stay at home is being applied in HCMC.
