HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, March 18, confirmed 163,174 fresh Covid cases, with nine of them imported and 163,165 locally infected in 62 cities and provinces, declining 10,157 cases day-on-day.
Hanoi reported the most cases, at 23,578, followed by Nghe An with 9,968, Phu Tho with 8,042, Bac Ninh with 6,488 and Lang Son with 5,011.
Lao Cai, Daklak, Hai Duong, Tuyen Quang and Son La were among the 14 localities that reported over 3,000 cases each.
In addition, the Bac Giang Department of Health updated 34,302 cases detected earlier to the national Covid monitoring system.
The new cases have sent the country’s total Covid caseload to nearly 7.36 million in the fourth wave, including some 3.86 million recoveries.
The Ministry of Health also reported 57 new Covid fatalities today, taking the country’s Covid death toll to 41,740. Meanwhile, nearly 176,000 Covid patients were announced to have fully recovered from the disease today.
In related news, following Long An, the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau has allowed asymptomatic Covid patients and direct contacts of Covid cases to voluntarily return to work during their quarantine period.
In specifics, asymptomatic Covid cases, those with mild symptoms and direct contacts of Covid cases can work either online or offline.
Those working offline must have separate working areas and strictly follow Covid safety protocols and must not contact with others. They will use their personal vehicles to go to their workplaces from their quarantine facilities and avoid direct contact with other people on the way.
In another development, traffic police officers of Thua Thien-Hue Province’s Phong Dien District today detected a truck transporting 50,000 Covid test kits whose origin was unknown.
The driver was Hoang Phu Huong, a resident in Danang City’s Cam Le District, who failed to show bills and documents proving the origin of the test kits. He was hired to transport the test kits by a company in Hanoi.
The Phong Dien District Police Division has seized the products for further investigation.
