HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 16,110 new Covid-19 infections this evening, December 19, including 17 imported cases and 16,093 domestic transmissions in 60 cities and provinces, soaring by 210 cases from yesterday.
Hanoi’s Covid case count in a single day surpassed 1,400 for the first time and led the country today, followed by Ca Mau with 1,345, HCMC with 1,014, Tay Ninh with 941, Ben Tre with 838, Can Tho with 793 and Dong Thap with 780.
Khanh Hoa, Vinh Long, Binh Phuoc, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Binh Dinh, Soc Trang, Dong Nai and Haiphong detected 417-599 cases each, while other cities and provinces had fewer than 400 new infections each.
The country’s domestic transmissions have amounted to some 1.535 million in the fourth Covid wave, which began in late April. Meanwhile, the total case number since the beginning of the outbreak late last year has reached over 1.54 million, ranking 32nd among 223 countries and territories.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 215 more Covid deaths, taking the nation’s death toll to 29,566. The new deaths included 57 in HCMC, 23 in Dong Nai, 18 in Binh Duong, 16 in An Giang, 13 in Tien Giang, 12 in Can Tho, and 11 each in Soc Trang and Dong Thap. Thirteen other cities and provinces reported fewer than 10 deaths each.
To date, more than 1.1 million Covid patients have fully recovered, while there are currently nearly 7,600 critically ill Covid patients in the country.
Vietnam has administered 138.7 million doses of Covid vaccines nationwide so far. Some 61.8 million people have got two shots.
Amid the complicated developments of Covid, more districts and wards of Hanoi have suspended non-essential services until further notice.
Hai Ba Trung District, five wards of Hoan Kiem District and two wards of Tay Ho District have decided to stop non-essential services such as sports and physical exercise activities, and dine-in services from today, December 19.
Hotels and other accommodation facilities are allowed to operate at no more than 50% of capacity. Besides, the owners and employees must be fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid.
Religious events can allow no more than 20 people at a time. All participants must make health declarations through QR codes.
Restaurants and eateries are still allowed to open but they can offer takeaway services only.
Twelfth graders and students of vocational schools are required to switch to online classes.
Tourist attractions are not allowed to receive groups with more than 10 tourists each.
The authorities also requested residents to restrict non-essential meetings and conferences, avoid large gatherings and only go out for essential reasons.
Dong Da and Hoang Mai districts and several wards of Hoan Kiem and Tay Ho districts had earlier suspended non-essential services as the city’s daily Covid case count had risen to above 1,000 in recent days.
