HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 16,157 new Covid infections this evening, December 24, including 15 imported cases and 16,142 domestic transmissions in 62 cities and provinces, falling by over 225 cases from yesterday.
Hanoi reported the most infections, at 1,834, followed by Ca Mau with 1,334, Tay Ninh with 948 and Vinh Long with 785.
Khanh Hoa, Can Tho, Dong Thap, HCMC, Tra Vinh, Binh Dinh and Bac Lieu detected 507-785 cases each, while other cities and provinces had fewer than 400 new infections each.
The country’s domestic transmissions have amounted to nearly 1.615 million in the fourth Covid wave, which began in late April. Meanwhile, the country’s total case number since the beginning of the outbreak late last year has reached over 1.62 million, ranking 31st among 223 countries and territories.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 235 more Covid deaths, mostly in HCMC, Dong Nai, An Giang and Tien Giang, taking the nation’s death toll to 30,766.
To date, more than 1.2 million Covid patients have fully recovered, while there are currently over 7,760 critically ill Covid patients in the country.
Vietnam has administered more than 143,5 million doses of Covid vaccines nationwide so far. Some 64.8 million people have got two shots.
HCMC has decided to suspend New Year firework displays this year due to concerns over complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Pham Duc Hai, deputy director of the HCMC Steering Committee for Covid Infection Prevention and Economic Recovery, the city will also consider suspending or scale down some other activities based on the situation.
The city has already planned to organize a number of public activities in celebration of New Year such as the New Year’s Countdown or Flower Street on Nguyen Hue Boulevard in District 1.
“Based on these plans, the authorities will decide whether to scale down or suspend the events depending on the Covid situation to ensure safety for the citizens,” Hai said.
In related news, the Ministry of Health has lifted mandatory quarantine for immigrants that stay in Vietnam for less than 14 days. They include people coming to Vietnam for diplomatic purposes, investors, experts, highly skilled workers, business managers and their relatives.
They still have to strictly comply with the country’s measures on Covid infection prevention and control, the ministry said in an announcement released today.
