A patient is treated at a COVID-19 hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre
The Ministry of Health logged 15,236 additional COVID-19 cases in Vietnam on Friday, along with 31,057 recoveries and 246 virus-related deaths.
The latest infections, including 21 imported and 15,215 domestic transmissions, were detected in 59 provinces and cities, the ministry said, elaborating that 9,836 patients caught the virus in the community.
Ben Tre Province documented 1,246 of the newest local cases, Ca Mau Province 1,071, Ho Chi Minh City 1,040, Tay Ninh Province 940, Can Tho City 715, Khanh Hoa Province 597, Hanoi 535, Dong Nai Province 338, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 258, Lam Dong Province 255, Bac Ninh Province 255, Binh Duong Province 209, Da Nang 194, Binh Thuan Province 141, Thua Thien-Hue Province 139, Quang Nam Province 97, Quang Ninh Province 82, and Hai Phong City 24.
Vietnam had registered 34,059 locally-acquired infections on Thursday, including 18,792 cases having been detected in Tay Ninh Province in the preceeding weeks and added to yesterday’s daily count.
The country has confirmed 1,503,003 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27. A combined 1,092,701 of them have recovered from COVID-19.
Ho Chi Minh City tops the list with 492,650 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 288,763, Dong Nai Province with 94,192, Tay Ninh Province with 62,132, Long An Province with 39,537, Dong Thap Province with 34,053, Can Tho City with 31,813, Tien Giang Province with 30,374, An Giang Province with 28,636, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 23,180, Binh Thuan Province with 22,750, Khanh Hoa Province with 22,401, Hanoi with 21,618, and Da Nang with 8,969.
Vietnam recorded only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.
The health ministry reported 31,057 recovered patients on Friday, raising the total to 1,095,518.
The toll has climbed to 29,103 fatalities after the ministry announced 246 deaths on the same day, including 60 in Ho Chi Minh City, 22 in Binh Duong Province, 21 in Dong Nai Province, 18 in An Giang Province, 15 in Can Tho City, and the remainder in 18 other provinces and cities.
Vietnam has logged 1,508,473 patients since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the country early last year.
Health workers have administered over 136.8 million vaccine doses, including 1,118,514 shots on Thursday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8.
More than 75.5 million of the country’s 98 million people have received at least one dose while above 60 million have been jabbed twice.
The number of third doses – including additional primary shots for immunocompromised people, boosters, and third jabs of Cuba’s Abdala vaccine – has hit 1,129,362.
Vietnam targets to fully inoculate 100 percent of its adult population this year. Many provinces and cities are immunizing children aged 12-17 against COVID-19, using Pfizer-BioNTech shots.