HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, January 15 confirmed 16,378 fresh Covid cases, with 73 of them imported and 16,305 locally infected in 60 cities and provinces, up 279 cases against yesterday.
Among the domestic cases, Hanoi City continued to record the highest number at 2,810, down 219 cases day-on-day. Danang City came second with 874 infections, followed by Haiphong with 814, Khanh Hoa with 654, Binh Phuoc with 615 and Tra Vinh with 646.
Binh Dinh and Ben Tre detected over 500 cases each, while the rest were reported in other localities.
The latest locally-transmitted infections have raised the country’s Covid caseload in the ongoing fourth wave of the pandemic, which began in late April last year, to over two million.
Nearly 52,000 Covid patients were discharged from hospitals nationwide today, taking the total recoveries to more than 1.7 million.
The ministry also reported 139 new Covid deaths, including 18 in Hanoi, 16 in HCMC, 12 each in Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Can Tho and 10 each in Tien Giang and Kien Giang. Other localities reported fewer than 10 fatalities each. The country’s Covid death toll now stands at 35,480.
In related news, Hanoi City’s Hoan Kiem District has lowered the Covid transmission risk level from high to moderate. As such, several non-essential activities have been allowed to restart.
The wards in the district at moderate risk have allowed indoor sports activities with gatherings of no more than 30 persons at the same time.
Eateries and restaurants are permitted to resume dine-in services, but only use 50% of their capacity and must close doors prior to 9.00 p.m. each day.
Hanoi City is at moderate risk of Covid community spread, seeing no districts pegged as carrying the extremely high risk.
Twenty-three districts and towns in the city are at moderate risk, while the remaining seven districts are at high risk, the local media reported.
Due to a surge in Covid infections, the city has set up the first online healthcare station in Ba Dinh District’s Truc Bach Ward.
The online healthcare station is in charge of receiving requests and questions from residents and sending them medical information. Doctors at the online healthcare station work round the clock to give guidelines for the use of medicines and healthy eating and about how to take care of patients so that they can recover from the disease quickly.
In another development, the HCMC Department of Health this afternoon reported 17 more Omicron cases, with all of them put under quarantine upon arrival, raising the total number of Omicron cases in the city to 30.
The latest Omicron-infected patients are not developing symptoms and receiving treatment at the Field Hospital No. 12, said Dr Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, chief of the office of the municipal department.
