HCMC – The Ministry of Health reported 16,553 new Covid-19 cases this evening, January 8, with 40 of them imported and 16,513 locally infected, up 259 domestic cases day-on-day.
The locally transmitted cases were found in 62 provinces and cities, with Hanoi continuing to take the lead with 2,791 cases, followed by Khanh Hoa with 798, Haiphong with 748, Binh Dinh with 742 and Binh Phuoc with 718.
Tra Vinh, Tay Ninh, Ca Mau, Daklak, Danang, Vinh Long and HCMC reported 436 to 575 cases each. Other cities and provinces had fewer than 400 cases each.
The ministry also reported 8,990 new recoveries, raising the country’s recoveries to nearly 1.49 million cases.
Meanwhile, 240 Covid deaths were confirmed, including 18 in HCMC, 27 in Dong Nai, 20 in An Giang, 15 each in Tien Giang and Vinh Long, 14 each in Long An and Ca Mau, 13 in Hanoi, 12 in Dong Thap and 11 each in Soc Trang and Kien Giang. Nineteen other localities had fewer than ten Covid fatalities each.
At a press briefing on January 7, head of the office of the HCMC Department of Health Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai said six out of the 11 Omicron cases in the city had been released from hospital. The remaining five cases have showed no or mild symptoms.
Although the city has yet to detect any community-transmitted Omicron case, it has worked out response plans.
It has also issued Covid safety criteria in schools to ensure safety for students in case Omicron cases are detected in the community.
The municipal Department of Health has also coordinated with the relevant agencies to propose providing medical workers with VND1.5 million each in the upcoming lunar New Year holiday.
At the press conference, Nguyen Hong Tam, deputy director of the HCMC Center for Disease Control, said the city had strived to complete administering the booster shot by the end of this month. With a current pace of 300,000 doses per day, the target could be achieved.
The number of Covid fatalities in the city today, at 18, was the lowest over the past nearly six months.
In related news, the HCMC government has announced the Covid-19 transmission risk levels for the city and 21 districts and Thu Duc City as of January 6. Accordingly, the city was at low risk.
Thu Duc City and three districts—1, 10 and Binh Thanh—were at moderate risk of coronavirus transmission, while 18 other districts were at low risk.
Thus, Thu Duc City upgraded its Covid-19 transmission risk level from low to moderate, and districts 4, 11 and Tan Phu saw their transmission risk level change from moderate to low.
From December 31, 2021 to January 6, 2022, the city recorded over 3,200 new Covid cases, down from the 4,100 cases in the previous week. With 9.1 million people, the city had an average of 40 cases out of 100,000 residents per week, making it among the first-level localities (from 20 to fewer than 50 cases per week).
