HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed 16,948 new Covid-19 infections this evening, January 2, including 34 imported cases and 16,914 locally-transmitted cases, rising over 2,000 domestic cases day-on-day.
The capital city of Hanoi saw its daily cases exceeding 2,000 for the first time, reporting 2,045 cases. Haiphong came second with 1,804 cases, followed by Vinh Long with 1,280 cases. Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Khanh Hoa, Ca Mau, Binh Dinh, and Hai Duong each had over 500 cases. The remaining cases were found in 54 other provinces and cities nationwide.
The country also reported 221 more Covid deaths today. HCMC accounted for 30 cases. The neighboring province of Dong Nai had 41 cases, which were reported for two days. An Giang, Vinh Long, Dong Thap, Can Tho, and Tien Giang each had over 10 fatalities. Up to now, Vietnam’s death toll has reached 32,831 cases.
In the day, over 14,400 other coronavirus patients were declared free from the disease, sending the country’s total recoveries to over 1.37 million.
In related news, the first patient in Vietnam that was found infected with the Omicron variant was discharged from 108 Military Central Hospital today, after two weeks undergoing quarantine and treatment at the Hanoi-based hospital.
During his stay at the hospital, the patient did not develop any symptoms of Covid and tested negative on January 1. Earlier, he took a PCR test after entering Vietnam from the UK. The result came back as positive and he was taken to the hospital for treatment on December 19.
The hospital collected his samples for genomic sequencing and later confirmed that he was infected with the Omicron variant.
In another development, a 23-year-old girl in Lao Cai Province died after she received her second Covid vaccine shot and experienced anaphylaxis, confirmed the provincial Health Department today.
The girl, from the Dao ethnic group, got her first shot of the Pfizer vaccine on November 21 and did not have post-vaccination reactions.
At around 15:30 on December 30, she got the second dose of the vaccine at a local clinic. Before vaccination, she underwent a pre-vaccination screening test and was eligible to be vaccinated.
About 30 minutes after vaccination, she developed the symptoms of fatigue, chest pain, stomach ache, and nausea. The medical workers handled the case in line with the Health Ministry’s guidelines. She was then taken to a local general hospital for emergency treatment. However, she was pronounced dead at 21:00 the same day.
The provincial health authority formed a group to inspect the cause of her death. According to preliminary results, the batch of the vaccine had been appraised and allocated by the Health Ministry. Also, it was transported and preserved in accordance with the regulations of the ministry and the manufacturer.
Further, five other people got the vaccine from the same vial as the girl. Their health condition after vaccination remains normal up to now, said the provincial health authority.
As of December 30, the clinic had given doses of the batch of the vaccine to over 570 people. Also, more than 10,600 residents in Sa Pa Town and over 29,000 across the province got their shots from this batch. None of them experienced reactions as the girl.
The provincial health concluded that she died due to anaphylaxis after vaccination.
