HCMC – Vietnam continued to see an upward trajectory of daily Covid infections after the Lunar New Year holiday, with 41,980 new cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health today, February 19.
These included 12 imported cases and 41,968 domestic transmissions in 61 cities and provinces.
Fifteen localities, all in the northern or north central regions, reported over 1,000 fresh infections each. Hanoi took the lead with 4,869 cases, followed by Bac Ninh with 3,040, Quang Ninh with 1,990, Hoa Binh with 1,871 and Thai Nguyen with 1,852. The others included Nam Dinh, Phu Tho, Haiphong, Lao Cai, Vinh Phuc, Nghe An, Hai Duong, Yen Bai, Bac Giang and Son La.
In addition, Vinh Phuc Province added 12,850 cases detected earlier to the national system for Covid infections management.
The country’s Covid tally has reached over 2.74 million since the beginning of the outbreak.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 65 more Covid deaths, taking the nation’s death toll to 39,423. Danang, Hanoi, Kien Giang and Thanh Hoa reported the most fatalities today.
To date, nearly 2.27 million Covid patients in the country have fully recovered, while there are currently over 3,000 critically ill patients.
The country has administered more than 190 million doses of Covid vaccine nationwide so far, including 174 million doses for people aged 18 or older.
In related news, Australia delivered more than 2.2 million Pfizer doses with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to Vietnam via the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC early this morning. This batch completes Australia’s commitment to share 7.8 million Covid vaccine doses with Vietnam.
With UNICEF’s support, Australia has purchased and delivered 3.6 million Pfizer doses, and has also shared 4.2 million AstraZeneca doses from its own supply.
The first Pfizer delivery arrived in Vietnam in January and Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie joined UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, Rana Flowers, to tour the national vaccine store and see the Australian-funded doses.
“We are proud of our support for Vietnam’s national vaccine rollout, which is critical to saving lives and boosting economic recovery,” the Australian Embassy in Vietnam said in a statement.
