HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, October 21, confirmed 3,636 fresh Covid-19 cases, marking the ninth straight day that the country’s daily case count had stayed below 4,000.
The new infections included 18 imported and 3,618 locally-infected cases in 50 cities and provinces, down by 17 cases from yesterday.
Among the domestic cases, HCMC recorded the highest number at 1,255, down by 92 day-on-day, followed by Binh Duong with 483, Dong Nai with 390, Tay Ninh with 185, An Giang with 174, Soc Trang with 109 and Bac Lieu with 102. Other provinces reported fewer than 100 cases each.
The latest domestic cases sent the country’s total in the ongoing fourth wave of the pandemic, which began in late April, to 872,811, with 795,307 of them having recovered.
The ministry also reported 71 more Covid-19 deaths, including 41 in HCMC, 12 in Binh Duong, five in Long An, four in An Giang, three in Soc Trang, two each in Ninh Thuan and Dong Nai and one each in Quang Ngai and Hanoi. The country’s Covid death toll stands at 21,487.
Over 1.7 million doses of Covid vaccines were administered nationwide on October 20, taking Vietnam’s total doses given to residents to more than 68.8 million.
In related news, speaking at an online meeting with the anti-Covid steering committees of Phu Tho, Soc Trang and Ca Mau on October 20, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the three provinces to quickly keep new Covid infection clusters in check.
The prime minister assigned the Ministry of Health to support the three provinces, asking the provinces to improve their health systems to reduce the death rates, speed up the vaccination campaigns and continue to effectively work with other localities to ensure Covid safety while transporting people back to their hometowns.
The three provinces are focusing on three factors, including quarantine, testing and treatment, with an attempt to put the pandemic under control.
Besides, the provinces are accelerating their vaccination process to achieve herd immunity as soon as possible, the local media reported.
