HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 16,472 new Covid infections today, January 6, with 55 of them imported and 16,417 locally infected. In addition, the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long updated 9,370 cases detected earlier to the national Covid tally management system.
Thus, the country’s Covid caseload in the ongoing fourth wave has risen by 25,842 to over 1.84 million.
Of the new domestic infections, Hanoi continued to lead the country by the case number with 2,716 infections, followed by Haiphong with 923, Tay Ninh with 853, Khanh Hoa with 800, Binh Phuoc with 798 and Ca Mau with 702.
Binh Dinh, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Ben Tre and HCMC recorded 442-575 cases each. Other localities had fewer than 400 cases each.
Today, 28,369 patients were announced to have recovered from Covid-19, raising the total recoveries in the country in the fourth wave to over 1.46 million.
Meanwhile, 170 Covid-19 deaths were confirmed, including 21 in HCMC, 19 in An Giang, 13 each in Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Tien Giang, and 12 each in Ben Tre, Dong Thap and Vinh Long. Seventeen other cities and provinces had fewer than 10 Covid deaths each.
The Department of Health of the northern province of Hai Duong revised down its Covid deaths reported on January 5 from two to one.
In related news, Thanh Hoa City in the north-central province of the same name has issued a letter discouraging local residents working in other localities from returning to the city during the upcoming lunar New Year holiday as a preventive measure of the city in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the city, the pandemic has been raging in the city with many complicated hotspots and an increase in the number of community-transmitted cases. From October 14 to December 30 last year, the city recorded 619 Covid cases.
Therefore, Thanh Hoa City called on local residents to inform their relatives living in other localities of the situation, and encourage them not to return to the city during the Tet holiday.
Le Anh Xuan, secretary of the Thanh Hoa City Party Committee, said the city did not ban local residents from returning to the city and expected them to strictly comply with anti-Covid regulations if they return.
In another development, Vietnam has so far received more than 206.5 million Covid vaccine doses, and 176.8 million doses have been allocated to cities and provinces, while the remaining 29.7 million doses are being kept in stock.
As of today, January 6, the country has administered nearly 157 million doses, with 91.6% of residents aged 18 and older having got enough primary Covid vaccine doses.
The Ministry of Health also reported that nearly 13.2 million vaccine doses had been administered to children aged between 12 and 17, including over 7.8 million doses used as first shots and nearly 5.4 million doses as second shots. Thus, 87% of children in this age group have got the first shot, and 59.9% have received the second shot.
The ministry also asked localities to accelerate the vaccination but ensure safety for residents.
