HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 13,698 new Covid-19 infections this evening, December 2, including 21 imported cases and 13,677 domestic transmissions in 60 cities and provinces, down by 829 cases from yesterday.
HCMC reported the most infections, at 1,738, followed by Can Tho with 985, Tay Ninh with 768, Soc Trang with 747, Ba Ria – Vung Tau with 637 and Dong Thap with 606.
Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Binh Thuan, Hanoi, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong and Kien Giang detected 405-496 cases each, while other cities and provinces had fewer than 400 new infections each.
With the fresh cases recorded today, the country’s domestic transmissions have amounted to 1,261,035 in the fourth Covid wave, which began in late April. Meanwhile, the total case number since the beginning of the outbreak late last year has reached 1,266,288, ranking 35th among 223 countries and territories.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 210 more Covid deaths, taking the nation’s death toll to 25,658. The new deaths included 80 in HCMC, 23 in Dong Nai, 16 in Can Tho, 14 in An Giang, 12 in Kien Giang and 11 in Long An. Sixteen other cities and provinces reported fewer than 10 deaths each.
To date, more than one million Covid patients have fully recovered, while there are currently some 6,600 critically ill Covid patients in the country.
Vietnam has administered 125.1 million doses of Covid vaccines nationwide so far. Some 52.7 million people have got two shots.
Chairing a meeting of the Government today, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked ministries, agencies and localities to continue keeping a close watch on the Covid situation, raise public awareness of pandemic prevention and control, and ensure social welfare for the citizens.
The prime minister reaffirmed the importance of vaccination in the Covid fight. He demanded that ministries, agencies and localities increase inspections into the storage of the Covid vaccines and vaccine rollouts to ensure safety and effectiveness.
In related news, the HCMC government has adopted a plan on piloting in-person classes for first, ninth and 12th graders in the city.
Under the pilot program, the students will attend in-person classes from December 13 to 25. In addition, five-year-old children will attend their kindergartens from December 20.
In the district of Can Gio alone, the Thanh An kindergarten, primary school and secondary-high school will organize in-person classes for all grades during two weeks of the pilot program.
Based on the outcome of the pilot program and advises from the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Training, the municipal government will decide whether to expand the subjects of the program.
Schools are required to hold meetings with parents for coordination measures, organize training for teachers and other staff on Covid infection prevention and control, and offer guidance for students on pandemic safety when returning to school.
