A health worker handles medical equipment at a COVID-19 treatment hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre
The Ministry of Health documented 17,017 COVID-19 cases in Vietnam on Wednesday, alongside 22,662 recoveries and 230 deaths.
The latest infections, including 20 imported and 16,997 domestic transmissions, were detected in all 63 provinces and cities, the ministry said, adding that 12,299 patients caught the virus in the community.
Hanoi recorded 2,505 of the newest local cases, Tay Ninh Province 862, Hai Phong City 792, Khanh Hoa Province 782, Ca Mau Province 687, Vinh Long Province 657, Ben Tre Province 499, Ho Chi Minh City 448, Bac Ninh Province 365, Quang Ninh Province 337, Binh Thuan Province 329, Can Tho City 282, Thua Thien-Hue Province 260, Da Nang 245, Lam Dong Province 228, Bac Giang Province 187, Quang Nam Province 180, Dong Nai Province 103, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 81, and Binh Duong Province 66.
Vietnam had reported 21,696 domestically-acquired infections on Tuesday.
The country has confirmed 1,811,863 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27. A combined 1,433,229 of them have recovered from COVID-19.
Ho Chi Minh City has been heavily affected with 505,971 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 291,127, Dong Nai Province with 98,286, Tay Ninh Province with 79,699, Hanoi with 56,937, Dong Thap Province with 45,133, Can Tho City with 42,054, Long An Province with 40,587, Khanh Hoa Province with 36,935, Tien Giang Province with 34,278, An Giang Province with 33,554, Binh Thuan Province with 26,707, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 26,692, and Da Nang with 12,236.
Vietnam logged merely 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.
The health ministry announced 22,662 recovered patients on Wednesday, elevating the total to 1,436,046.
The toll has risen to 33,475 fatalities after the ministry confirmed 230 deaths on the same day, including 25 in Ho Chi Minh City, 30 in Dong Nai Province, 17 in An Giang Province, 17 in Tay Ninh Province, 15 in Binh Duong Province, 14 in Vinh Long Province, 12 in Hanoi, and the remaining in 20 other provinces and cities.
Vietnam has confirmed 1,817,721 patients, including 25 imported Omicron infections, since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the country early last year.
Health workers have administered more than 155 million vaccine doses, including 752,474 shots on Tuesday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8.
Upwards of 77.9 million of the country’s 98 million people have received at least one dose while over 69.8 million have been injected twice.
The number of third doses – including additional primary shots for immunocompromised people, boosters, and third jabs of Cuba’s Abdala vaccine – has increased to 7,407,700.
Many provinces and cities are immunizing children aged 12-17 against COVID-19, using Pfizer-BioNTech shots.