HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 17,000 new Covid infections today, December 30, including 20 imported cases and 16,980 domestic transmissions in 61 cities and provinces, rising by over 3,100 cases from yesterday.
Hanoi continued to lead the country by the case number with 1,866, followed by Ca Mau with 1,008, Tay Ninh with 935, Haiphong with 838, Khanh Hoa with 788 and Binh Phuoc with 759.
HCMC, Bac Lieu, Binh Dinh, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Lam Dong and Thua Thien-Hue detected 439-697 cases each, while other cities and provinces had fewer than 300 new infections each.
In addition, the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau updated 2,868 cases to the national Covid tally management system.
The country’s domestic transmissions have amounted to over 1.7 million in the fourth Covid wave, which began in late April. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s total case number since the beginning of the outbreak late last year has reached nearly 1.715 million, ranking 31st among 223 countries and territories.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 240 more Covid deaths, mostly in HCMC, Binh Duong, An Giang, Can Tho, Dong Thap and Vinh Long, taking the nation’s death toll to 32,168.
Thua Thien-Hue Province added 51 Covid fatalities, which were recorded between July 31 and December 29.
To date, more than 1.3 million Covid patients have fully recovered, while there are currently over 7,300 critically ill Covid patients in the country.
Vietnam has administered more than 149.3 million doses of Covid vaccine nationwide so far, with some 67.8 million people having received two shots.
With its daily Covid case count leading the country recently, Hanoi has decided to suspend outdoor activities for New Year’s Eve, including countdown events and firework displays.
The suspension aims at preventing large gatherings during the holiday, according to the municipal Department of Culture and Sports.
The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has also decided to suspend a countdown event scheduled to be held in the downtown area of Hue City on New Year’s Eve.
In addition, the province has postponed the launch of a night street zone around the Imperial Citadel of Hue.
The night street zone around Hue Imperial Citadel – the UNESCO-recognized World Cultural Heritage, was set to be launched on January 1, 2022, in order to boost the city’s nighttime economy.
Vo Le Nhat, chairman of Hue City, said the opening of the night street zone will be held at a more suitable time when the pandemic has been fully controlled in the city.
