HCMC – The Ministry of Health this afternoon, August 23, confirmed 10,280 new Covid-19 cases, including 14 imported cases and 10,266 domestic infections in 39 localities.
The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa today also updated 117 cases detected earlier to the national Covid-19 monitoring system.
Thus, the number of new Covid-19 cases today fell 942 cases against yesterday.
Specifically, HCMC continued to record the biggest case number, at 4,251, followed by its neighboring provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, Long An and Ba Ria-Vung Tau with 3,183, 623, 459, 388 and 154 cases, respectively.
In addition, 152 cases were reported in Danang, 128 in Daklak, 125 in Khanh Hoa, 111 in Nghe An and 100 in Dong Thap. The rest were detected in other localities, with each locality recording less than 100 cases each.
Of the total new cases, 6,021 cases were found infectious while in the community.
The new cases today sent the country’s Covid-19 caseload in the current wave to 354,355, including 151,838 recoveries, with 6,945 patients being discharged from hospital today.
HCMC and Binh Duong, the country’s two largest Covid-19 hotspots, have detected 180,245 and 73,425 cases, respectively.
Today, 389 Covid-19 deaths were reported, including 340 in HCMC, 34 in Binh Duong, six in Long An, three in Danang, two each in Dong Nai and Dong Thap and one each in Can Tho and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
The country’s Covid-19 death tally has reached 8,666, accounting for 2.4% of the country’s Covid-19 cases.
At a press conference this afternoon, Pham Duc Hai, deputy head of the HCMC steering committee for Covdi-19 infection prevention and control, said the number of new Covid-19 cases in the city was forecast to increase in the coming days as the city had been conducting tests for all residents as required by the prime minister.
Residents with a positive testing result should stay calm and contact pop-up healthcare stations and quick response teams. Those meeting the requirements will be treated at home, while patients developing symptoms or suffering from underlying illnesses will be sent to centralized quarantine centers.
Hai cited the statistics from the municipal Police Department to say that from 0 a.m. to 12 p.m. today, the number of vehicles traveling on streets in the city plunged 85% over August 22, proving that local residents have complied with enhanced social distancing measures.
Local residents must not buy medicines by themselves during the period. Special working teams in wards, communes and towns will help them with the medicine purchase.
During the enhanced social distancing period, residents having a demand for visiting hospitals and clinics will contact taxi firms Vinasun and Mai Linh. The city has allowed 500 taxis of the two firms to operate during the period. Meanwhile, 260 vehicles of Phuong Trang Group will transport Covid-19 patients getting worse to hospitals.
In related news, the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu today re-imposed social distancing in line with the prime minister’s Directive 16 after three hours applying softer measures in Directive 15 as the province detected four complicated Covid-19 cases.
Bac Lieu Province Chairman Pham Van Thieu said 177 direct contacts and hundreds of indirect contacts of these cases have been reported.
Therefore, the province suspended all socioeconomic activities and banned residents from going out, except for frontline workers. Bac Lieu City of the province was put under lockdown and all residents in the city will undergo Covid-19 tests.
Earlier, the province had decided to deploy Directive 15 for 14 days, from 0 a.m. on August 23, after five weeks applying Directive 16. The province has recorded 146 Covid-19 cases, including 82 recoveries.
In another development, Long An Province and Vinh City of Nghe An Province have also banned local residents from venturing out for a week, starting from 0 a.m. on August 23.
Long An has had more than 18,500 Covid-19 cases, including 225 deaths. Meanwhile, Vinh City has detected 71 community-transmitted cases.
