HCMC – The Ministry of Health reported 14,362 fresh Covid-19 cases today, January 24, with 55 cases imported and 14,307 others locally infected.
Hanoi continued to have the most infections, at 2,801, followed by Danang with 958, Haiphong with 733, Hung Yen with 644 and Thanh Hoa with 585.
Quang Ninh, Quang Ngai, Binh Phuoc, Binh Dinh, Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh and Nghe An had 306-404 cases each. Other localities recorded fewer than 300 cases each. It is noteworthy that HCMC had only 97 new Covid cases and six fatalities, which are the lowest daily numbers in the past six months.
Today, Kien Giang, Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau also reported their first Omicron cases, who were all imported. Thus, the Omicron variant has spread to 13 localities nationwide.
Today, more than 36,300 Covid patients were announced to have recovered, increasing the total recoveries in the country to over 1.8 million.
Meanwhile, 165 Covid deaths were confirmed, including 21 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, 20 in Dong Nai, 11 each in Vinh Long and Kien Giang and 10 each in An Giang and Hau Giang. The remaining were reported in 27 other cities and provinces.
At a meeting today with medical workers and officials at the HCMC Department of Health, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the department to accelerate the vaccination of children aged between 12 and 17 to reopen schools after the Tet holiday.
He hailed the city’s achievements in the fight against the pandemic and expressed his sympathy for the difficulties and losses of the city in 2021.
According to the Government leader, HCMC has contributed significantly to the anti-pandemic fight nationwide and helped change the anti-pandemic solutions and thinking. The city has piloted decisive measures and coordinated effectively with the relevant agencies and other localities.
Regarding the targets in 2022, the prime minister asked the city to efficiently deploy a program to fight the pandemic and recover and develop the society and economy. The city should also speed up the vaccination and continue conducting a campaign to protect residents with a high risk of coronavirus infection.
Moreover, the city was assigned to boost the administrative reform and digital transformation in the healthcare sector and improve the capacity of the sector.
At a press briefing today of the HCMC steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control and economic recovery, Nguyen Hong Tam, deputy director of the municipal Center for Disease Control, said the city had had 88 Omicron cases, including five locally-infected cases and 83 imported cases. All five locally infected cases were linked to an imported case from the United States.
Only seven Omicron cases in the city have developed symptoms, such as slight fever and sore throat, and most of the patients have recovered after a week, Tam added.
