HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 14,599 new Covid-19 cases this evening, December 8, with four of them imported and 14,595 locally infected in 58 cities and provinces, increasing by 760 cases from yesterday.
HCMC remained the biggest coronavirus hotspot with 1,475 cases, followed by Tay Ninh with 874, Soc Trang with 781, Binh Phuoc with 747, Ben Tre with 740, Dong Thap with 725 and Can Tho with 676.
The provinces of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Vinh Long, Ca Mau, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang detected 422-539 cases each, while other cities and provinces had less than 400 new infections each.
With the fresh Covid cases recorded today, the country’s domestic transmissions have amounted to 1,346,811 in the fourth wave of the pandemic, which began in late April. Meanwhile, the total case number since the beginning of the outbreak last year has reached 1,352,122, ranking 33th among 223 countries and territories.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 230 more Covid deaths, taking the nation’s death toll to 26,930. The new deaths included 75 in HCMC, 24 in An Giang, 18 in Dong Nai, 16 in Binh Duong, 14 in Tien Giang, 13 in Long An, 12 each in Vinh Long and Kien Giang, 11 in Tay Ninh and 10 in Can Tho. Thirteen other cities and provinces reported below 10 deaths each.
To date, over 1,033,500 Covid patients have fully recovered, while there are currently some 7,500 cases in critical condition in the country.
Vietnam has administered 129.4 million doses of Covid vaccines nationwide so far. Some 55.5 million people have got two shots.
In related news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States has updated its travel advisories to include Vietnam in the list of high-risk countries.
This high-risk group (level three) also comprises 55 other countries and territories such as Laos, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia and Thailand.
The CDC warned that unvaccinated people limit non-essential travel to Vietnam. Due to the current pandemic situation in the country, all travelers may be at risk of contracting or spreading Covid, it said.
In case American citizens travel to Vietnam for essential purposes, they are advised to get fully vaccinated before arrival and follow local recommendations and requirements like wearing face masks and keeping a safe physical distance (2 meters) from others.
Besides, Pakistan on Monday extended its travel ban to nine more countries including Vietnam over concerns of the Omicron variant.
Pakistan listed Croatia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland and Zimbabwe in Category C, the group of countries from which travel is banned.
Although Vietnam has not detected any cases of Omicron so far, the country has recently seen a steady rise in Delta infections.
